THE   REAL  BISMARCK 


The    Hermit    of    Friedrichsruh. 


THE 

REAL  BISMARCK 


BY 

JULES    HOCHE 

ILLUSTRA  TED 


ENGLISHED    BY 

MRS.   CHARLES    R.    ROGERS 


*•*•*••••••    ••••*••!*• 


NEW   YORK 

R.   F.   FENNO    &   COMPANY,  PUBLISHERS 

9  AND  ii  EAST  SIXTEENTH  STREET 

1898 


COPYRIGHT,  1898,  BY 
R.   F.    FENNO  &  COMPANY 


M 


TROW  DIRECTORY 

PRINTING  AND  BOOKBINDING  COMPANY 
NEW  YORK 


PREFACE. 


Many  qualities  are  essential  to  the  biographer  who  is  to 
successfully  discharge  the  duties  and  responsibilities  of 
his  office.  Of  the  first  importance  is  impartiality;  that  is, 
an  absence  of  all  preconceived  prejudice  against  the  man 
whose  portrait  is  to  be  drawn.  Honesty  also  is  indispen- 
sable— the  honesty  of  the  mirror,  and  of  a  mirror  suffi- 
ciently correct  not  to  send  back  to  an  ape  which  should 
chance  to  regard  himself  therein,  the  reflection  of  an  apos- 
tle— or  the  reverse. 

Before  and  above  all  must  the  biographer  furnish  his 
readers  with  the  psychological  key  to  the  actions  of  his  hero 
(I  was  about  to  say  his  patient);  a  sketch  explanatory 
of  his  moral  nature,  a  skeleton  as  exact  in  outline,  as  lumi- 
nous as  that  of  an  opaque  body  traversed  by  the  Roentgen 
rays.  For  the  words  and  deeds  of  a  man,  however  famous 
he  may  be,  interest  us  only  commensurately  with  our  abil- 
ity to  divine  their  motive  and  purpose;  and  proportionately 
with  the  manner,  more  or  less  complicated,  in  which  they 
explain,  reflect,  commentate  the  mysterious  depths  and 
shallows  of  his  soul. 

In  a  word  it  is  necessary  that  the  human  type  posing  be- 
fore us,  the  being  of  flesh  and  bone,  clothed,  armed  with 
defiance,  intrenched  behind  the  sympathy  or  hate  with 
which  he  has  been  able  to  inspire  his  contemporaries — 
shall  become  suddenly  fluid,  incorporeal,  reduced  to  a  sim- 
ple psycho-physical  expression;  a  mental  equation  of  one  or 


4*  47R7 


viii  Preface. 

several  volumes,  the  solution  of  which  the  reader  has  the 
right  to  exact  from  the  first  page. 

If  the  application  of  this  theory  be  an  essential  of  all 
biography  of  any  seriousness,  it  becomes  indispensable  to 
that  of  a  man  like  Bismarck,  of  whom  his  enigmatical  per- 
sonality invited  as  many  detractors  as  admirers,  and  of 
whom  has  been  spoken  at  the  same  time  so  much  both  of 
good  and  evil  that  it  is  impossible  to  form  an  opinion  con- 
cerning him  if  one  be  not  in  possession  of  the  psychological 
key  to  which  I  have  alluded. 

So,  contrary  to  the  usage  of  those  writers  who,  before  an 
undertaking  similar  to  this,  have  begun  by  deprecating 
their  incompetency  for  the  task,  I  believe  I  may  assert  that 
my  readers  will  find  in  this  study  the  two  essential  elements 
which  are  lacking  in  all  other  biographies  of  Bismarck: 
namely,  absolute  impartiality  and  an  exact  psychological 
theory,  solving  in  the  most  simple,  lucid  and  conclusive 
manner  the  vital  problem  offered  to  the  entire  world  by  the 
unobtrusive  personage  who,  during  a  half-century  directed, 
more  or  less  officially,  the  destiny  of  a  great  part  of  Europe. 

I  was  quite  small  when  for  the  first  time  the  name  of 
Bismarck  was  revealed  to  me  by  iron  and  fire  ("  ferro  et 
igne"  according  to  the  good  Bismarckian  formula)  and 
by  the  conversation  of  my  elders,  some  of  whom,  alas! 
paid  the  tribute  of  one  or  two  members  to  that  iron  and 
fire  which  then  rained  upon  besieged  Strasbourg;  still 
more  particularly  was  it  made  known  to  me  by  the  bursting 
shells  which  all  day  long  filled  the  neighborhood  about  our 
house  with  a  music  so  sweet  to  my  childish  ears  that  I 
resisted  the  impulse  to  associate  the  name  of  Bismarck,  the 
indirect  cause  of  the  music,  with  those  of  Croquemitaine, 
Troppmann,  Mephistopheles,  who,  with  the  occult  Master 
of  the  invading  Germans,  shared  the  execrations  of  the 
besieged. 


Preface.  ix 

Shortly  after,  I  found  myself  in  the  situation  of  the  per- 
plexed man  whom  an  old  allegorical  print  represents  nude 
between  two  garments — one  made  in  the  style  of  yester- 
day, the  other  in  that  of  to-morrow.  Thanks  to  the  treaty 
of  Frankfort,  I  had  all  the  trouble  in  the  world  to  retain 
the  garment  of  yesterday — that  which  the  law  of  might  at- 
tempted to  wrest  from  me.  The  remembrance  of  my 
nudity  for  a  long  time  pursued  me,  imbuing  me  with  a  pro- 
found scepticism  regarding  certain  high-flown  phrases 
which  form  some  good  patriots'  stock-in-trade  of  elo- 
quence. 

Never  for  an  instant,  however,  did  the  ridiculous  idea 
present  itself,  that  a  single  man,  even  Bismarck  himself, 
could  be  the  sole  cause  of  the  accumulating  distress  of  my 
country ;  I  preferred  to  see  in  this  distress  only  a  phenom- 
enon which  was  an  inevitable  result  of  the  social  and  polit- 
ical evolution  of  Europe. 

Hence  my  impartial  attitude  toward  the  man  who  has 
played  so  distinguished  a  part  in  the  fatal  events  which 
were  the  cause  of  my  being  withdrawn  from  an  ethnical 
family  hearth  to  which  I  have  never  since  sought  to  return. 

These  facts  noted,  I  plunge  without  further  preamble 
into  the  psychological  sketch  which  I  have  promised  the 
reader. 

From  an  exclusively  biological  view-point  Bismarck  is 
undeniably  a  natural  force;  which  explains  in  a  general 
way  the  inequalities,  the  exaggerations,  the  contradictions, 
the  bewildering  contrasts  which  seemed  to  characterize  his 
political  life.  Yet  this  does  not  explain  his  more  intimate 
and  familiar  personality,  so  chameleon-like  in  its  charm 
that  public  appreciation  of  it  has  varied  as  frequently  as  it 
has  found  writers  to  describe  it;  while  a  single  word,  a 
simple  epithet  coupled  with  his  name  would  have  sufficed 
to  banish  all  uncertainty  and  render  the  obscurity  luminous. 


x  Preface. 

Bismarck  is  above  all  else  a  humorist. 

Into  politics  and  diplomacy  he  carried  the  same  gestures, 
the  same  attitudes  which,  in  literature,  distinguish  Sterne, 
Carlyle,  Lamb,  Heine,  even  Schopenhauer;  he  borrows 
from  this  one  and  that  his  malice,  his  artful  joviality,  from 
the  others  their  love  of  antithesis,  their  comical  conceits; 
from  all,  their  paradoxical  spirit,  their  disdain  of  others  and 
of  themselves,  engrafted  upon  a  brutal  candour  bordering 
upon  cynicism;  a  cynicism  in  him  hardly  softened  by  ex- 
treme sensitiveness  and  a  number  of  remarkable  domestic 
virtues  in  which  his  monstrous  egoism  has  been  re- 
absorbed. 

As  a  diplomatist  he  proclaimed  the  emptiness  and  vanity 
of  all  diplomacy;  as  a  political  orator  he  defended  himself 
only  by  outbursts  of  whimsical  humour  and  more  or  les? 
witty  sarcasms;  further,  while  working  zealously  for  God 
and  the  Fatherland,  this  Protestant  patriot  confesses  hi? 
pessimism  and  the  inanition  of  his  faith.  These  tendencies, 
wholly  characteristic  of  his  humoristic  temperament,  are 
most  frequently  revealed  in  his  speeches  and  in  his  unoffi- 
cial correspondence.  I  will  cite  some  examples;  first,  this 
passage  in  a  letter  addressed  to  Madame  Bismarck,  from 
Frankfort,  where  he  was  attending  the  federal  Diet. 

Unless  external  complications  arise — and  we  federal 
delegates  are  as  utterly  incapable  of  producing  them  as  of 
extricating  ourselves  from  them — I  know  precisely  what  we 
shall  do  in  one,  two  or  five  years ;  I  would  undertake  to  ac- 
complish it  in  twenty-four  hours  if  the  others  would  be 
sensible  and  sincere  a  single  day.  I  never  doubted  that 
these  gentlemen  had  their  food  prepared  in  the  most  econom- 
ical manner,  yet  such  a  total  absence  of  rich  ingredient , 
confounds  me,  I  admit.  Send  me  your  school-master  o>- 
your  road-surveyor  and  if  they  be  washed  and  combed  they 
will  make  as  good  diplomats  as  these.  JLam_making  prc  - 
digious  progress  in  the  art  of  saying  nothing  in  an  infiniie 


Preface.  xi 

number  of  words.  I  write  letters  of  several  pages,  with 
perfect  clearness  and  precision;  and  if,  after  having  read 
them,  Manteuffel  is  able  to  tell  me  what  they  are  about,  he 
knows  more  than  I.  Norie^jtiQt^even  the  most  worthless 
I)cniQcrat_carL_cpnceiye  the  emptiness  and  charlatanism  of 
diplomacy. 

Humour,  according  to  his  own  definition,  expresses  itself 
by  an  impassability,  an  emotion  rather  concentrated  than  ex- 
pansive; an  emotion  compounded  of  selfishness  and  sadness 
because  it  springs  from  the  most  profound  depths  of  the  be- 
ing, and  possessing  an  accidental  character  of.  hereditary 
physical  instincts  and  affinities  strongly  dominating  individ- 
ual psychic  tendencies.  This  last  peculiarity  has  made  of  the 
gigantic  Prussian,  so  pre-eminently  organized  for  intellect- 
ual emancipation,  a  believer  sad,  resigned,  bent  under  the 
double  yoke  of  his  God  and  of  his  Emperor,  whose  preroga- 
tives he  readily  confounds ;  he  is  attached  to  this  tyrannical 
duality  as  a  dog  to  his  master;  yes,  like  one  of  those  big 
dogs  by  which  he  loves  to  be  surrounded,  and  some  of  which 
curiously  resemble  himself  in  their  Qold^_steady  gaze,  their 
heavy  eyebrows,  the  immobility  of  their  leonine  features,  the 
rigidity  of  their  powerful  jaws. 

One  evening  Bismarck  explained  to  his  guests  at  Fer- 
rieres  in  what  manner  his  piety,  in  some  sort  atavic,  I  was 
about  to  say  congenital,  served  as  substratum  to  his  political 
conscience  and  to  all  his  aspirations  which,  be  it  said  in 
passing,  are  at  least  a  century  behind  the  general  evolution 
of  the  human  mind: 

I  cannot  comprehend  how  one  may  live  without  a  be- 
lief in  God  and  in  a  future  life.  Were  not  I  a  Christian  I 
should  not  for  an  instant  consent  to  remain  at  my  post ;  did 
not  I  obey  my  God,  did  not  I  rely  upon  him  I  certainly 
should  not  concern  myself  with  this  world's  grandeur.  I 
have  enough  to  live  upon  and  a  sufficiently  distinguished 


xii  Preface. 

position;  why  should  I  labour  and  torment  myself  cease- 
lessly? why  expose  myself  to  care,  fatigue,  calumny,  did  not 
I  feel  obliged  to  fulfil  my  duty  toward  God?  Did  noTrtje- 
lieve  in  the  divine  will  which  has  decreed  that  the  German 
nation  shall  become  great  and  virtuous,  I  should  never  have 
entered  upon  a  political  career  or  at  least  I  should  promptly 
!  renounce  it.  I  do  not  know  whence  would  come  the  send- 
\  ment  of  duty  if  not  from  God.  Titles  and  decorations  have 
no  charm  for  me.  I  firmly  believe  in  a  future  life,  there- 
fore I  am  a  royalist !  naturally  I  should  incline  to  republi- 
canism. It  is  to  my  unswerving  faith  alone  that  I  owe  the 
strength  which  has  enabled  me  to  resist  all  the  absurdities  im- 
aginable for  the  past  ten  years.  Deprive  me  of  my  faith  and 
you  despoil  me  of  my  country.  Were  not  I  a  firm  Christian, 
did  not  my  edifice  rest  upon  the  miraculous  base  of  religion, 
I  should  never  have  been  the  Chancellor  whom  you  know. 
Find  me  a  successor  penetrated  with  the  same  principles 
and  I  will  immediately  retire.  Ah,  I  should  be  glad  to  go\  » 
I  adore  the  country,  the  woods — all  nature  enraptures  me  j 
Separate  me  from  God  and  I  pack  my  trunks  to-morrow  and 
go  to  cultivate  my  oats  at  Varzin 


And  now  permit  me  to  follow  these  two  extracts,  where- 
in the  soul  of  the  humorist  Bismarck  reveals  itself  in  two 
essential  aspects,  with  this  definition  of  humour  borrowed 
from  a  writer  whom  the  ex-Chancellor  much  cultivated — 
M.  Taine: 

In  the  humorist  the  physical  nature,  hidden  and  op- 
pressed under  habits  of  melancholy  reflection,  is  exposed  for 
an  instant.  You  see  a  grimace,  a  mischievous  gesture,  then 
a  swift  return  to  the  habitual  solemnity.  Add  to  this  the 
unexpected  flashes  of  imagination.  The  humorist  encloses 
a  poet.  Suddenly,  in  the  monotonous  twilight  of  prose,  at 
the  end  of  a  lane  of  argument,  a  landscape  sparkles ;  beauti- 
ful or  ugly,  it  matters  not  which  so  that  it  be  striking.  These 
inequalities  well  express  the  German  solitary,  energetic,  im- 
aginative, cultivating  violent  contrasts  founded  U£on  sad 
personal  reflection,  with  unexpected  returns  to  physical  in- 
stinct, so  different  from  the  Latin  and  classic  races,  races  of 


Preface.  xiii 

artists  and  orators  among  whom  all  write  in  the  public  view, 
none  is  happy  except  in  the  contemplation  of  harmonious 
forms,  in  whom  the  imagination  is  disciplined  and  to  whom 
sensuality  seems  natural. 

It  is  easily  observed  that  this  definition  from  the  "  Histoire 
de  la  litterature  anglaise  "  applies  astonishingly  well  to  the 
psychology  of  Bismarck,  such  as,  deduced  from  his  con- 
fidential correspondence  and  from  his  familiar  conversation, 
it  would  appear  that  it  should  be.  Furthermore,  is  not  this 
the  same  man  who  uttered  the  disconcerting  aphorism:  "  It 
is  unnecessary  to  take  anything  seriously  "  ?  and  whose 
public  life  seemed  to  be  inspired  by  Schopenhauer's  maxim: 
"  Neither  to  love  nor  to  hate  is  the  first  half  of  the  science  of 
life;  to  hold  the  tongue  and  to  believe  nothing,  the  second 
half." 

Thus  are  accounted  for  his  eternal  contradictions,  the  con- 
stant tacking,  the  inexhaustible  resource,  the  brusque  de- 
struction of  the  axis  of  his  politics.  For  the  opinion  of  some 
biographers  who  accord  him  above  all  a  remarkable  steadfast- 
ness of  mind,  is  laughable  to  those  who  have  studied  more 
closely  his  political  sayings  and  doings,  his  innumerable 
changes  of  side,  so  marvellously  adapted  to  the  incoherency 
ofJEuropean  diplomacy — incoherencies  to  which  Bismarck 
but  accommodates  himself  most  cleverly,  while  seeming  to 
direct  them. 

To  those  who  proclaim  and  pompously  praise  his  stead- 
fastness of  mind  he  would  certainly  be  the  first  to  reply  in  the 
mocking  tone  familiar  with  him,  that  steadfastness  of  pur- 
pose was  an  excellent  quality  for  a  grocer  or  any  other  trades- 
man, but  that  it  would  be  the  most  objectionable  ingredient 
to  introduce  into  a  parliaiaejitary  salad,  the  ragouts  of  chan- 
cery, where  it  is  the  first  essential  to  know  how  to  meta- 
morphose the  errors  of  yesterday  into  the  truths  of  to-mor- 
row. 


xiv  Preface. 

To  those  who  insist  upon  treating  him  as  a  great  political 
genius,  a  man  of  fate  marked,  like  Richelieu  and  Napoleon, 
with  the  seal  of  a  tragic  predestination,  Prince  Bismarck 
would  repeat  what  he  one  day  said  to  Mr.  Blowitz — that  he 
does  not  believe  in  a  great  providential  man;  that  according 
to  his  belief  political  celebrities  owe  their  reputations,  if  not 
to  hazard  at  least  to  circumstances  which  they  themselves 
cannot  have  foreseen. 

As  a  matter  of  fact  the  ex-Chancellor  himself  perhaps 
owes  to  a  sally  of  superlative  humour  all  his  political  fortune, 
or  at  least  the  unexpected  course  which  his  destiny  took  in 
1839.  Me  was  then  Referendary  in  the  civil  administration 
at  Aix-la-Chapelle.  One  of  his  chiefs  having  kept  him  wait- 
ing a  long  time  in  the  antechamber  he  gravely  said,  when  at 
last  he  was  introduced:  "  I  came  to  converse  with  you,  but 
upon  reflection,  instead  I  will  hand  in  my  resignation." 

This  absurd  incident  did  indeed  turn  the  young  Bismarck 
from  a  bureaucratic  career. 


THE  REAL  BISMARCK. 


i. 

Ancestors  of  Otto  von  Bismarck— The  Goblet  of  the  Old  Marshal— 
Schonhausen  and  His  Two  Chateaux — The  Parents  of  Bismarck 
— An  Interrupted  Honeymoon — The  French  Invasion — The 
Tribulations  of  a  Prussian  Major  of  Cavalry — A  Singular  Birth- 
Announcement — The  Vulnerability  of  a  Stone  Hercules — Birth 
of  Malvina  von  Bismarck. 

The  genealogy  of  the  ex-Chancellor,  Otto  von  Bismarck, 
presents  a  long  line  of  soldiers  and  troopers  of  Brandenbourg 
or  Pomerania,  of  no  particular  interest  to  us.  Their  exist- 
ence was  passed  in  drinking,  hunting  and  spilling  their 
blood  upon  every  battle-field  in  Prussia. 

Augustus  Frederic  von  Bismarck,  the  great-grandfather 
of  the  ex-Chancellor,  was  colonel  of  a  regiment  of  dragoons 
and  perished  at  Czaslau,  in  a  battle  fought  against  the 
Austrians  (May,  1742).  His  wife,  born  von  Dewitz,  was 
descended  in  a  direct  line  from  the  Brandenbourgian  Marshal 
Derfm'nger,  one  of  whose  nieces,  Charlotte  von  Schoenfeldt, 
was  married  to  the  Chancellor's  grandfather,  Charles  Alex- 
ander, second  son  of  Colonel  von  Bismarck.  Thus  the  de- 
scendants of  Charles  Alexander  had  in  their  veins  the  blood 
of  the  Derffiingers,  and  Bismarck,  who  respects  his  ances- 
tors, has  preserved  a  silver  goblet  ornamented  with  a  medal- 
lion wrought  in  silver,  of  the  old  Marshal ;  a  goblet  in  which 
has  long  been  served  the  beer  at  the  famous  Parliamentary 
receptions  at  the  Radziwill  Palace. 


2  The  Real  Bismarck. 

Charles  Alexander  pursued  peace  and  knowledge,  but  the 
warlike  spirit  of  his  forebears  was  revived  in  his  four  sons, 
and  most  irresistibly  in  the  youngest,  Charles  William  Ferdi- 
nand, the  father  of  the  Chancellor,  who,  at  the  age  of  twelve 
years  was  enrolled  a  carbineer  of  the  Guard  and  in  1792 
took  part  in  the  campaign  against  France,  as  one  of  the 
ordnance-officers  of  the  Duke  of  Brunswick. 

Of  his  ancestry,  then,  it  is  seen  that  Otto  von  Bismarck 
has  somewhat  to  be  proud.  His  early  studies  suffered  much 
from  his  own  turbulent  and  dissipated  character;  he  was  by 
no  means  the  meditative,  abstracted  child  which  a  celebrity 
is  supposed  to  be  in  early  life.  Strong  and  healthy,  energetic 
and  overflowing  with  physical  vigour,  he  never  missed  an 
occasion  for  slighting  his  school  exercises.  At  the  age  of 
sixteen  the  preparation  for  his  examinations  was  willingly 
neglected  for  his  favourite  sports,  hunting,  fishing  and  long 
excursions  on  horse-back. 

Otto  von  Bismarck  was  born  at  Schonhausen  in  Branden- 
bourg  on  April  I,  1815. 

The  castle  of  Schonhausen,  as  represented  in  the  engrav- 
ing, dates  from  the  eighteenth  century;  the  period  at  which 
Colonel  von  Bismarck,  Otto's  great-grandfather,  had  it  re- 
constructed upon  the  foundations  of  the  ancient  feudal  cas- 
tie.  The  father  of  Otto  von  Bismarck,  having  retired  with 
the  rank  of  major,  was  married  to  Louise  Menken,  a  little 
bourgeoise;  the  granddaughter  of  a  professor  of  philosophy 
and  daughter  of  a  King's  councillor  whose  death  had  oc- 
curred in  1801.  Of  this  marriage  were  born  six  children,  of 
whom  only  three  have  survived:  the  ex-Chancellor  (Otto), 
his  brother  Bernard  and  his  sister  Malvina,  who  was  mar- 
ried in  1844  to  Oscar  von  Arnim,  a  member  of  the  Reichstag. 

Bismarck  has  always  been  profoundly  devoted  to  his  sister 
Malvina,  who  will  be  frequently  mentioned  in  this  volume; 
to  her  are  addressed  the  letters  by  turns  sentimental,  enthu- 


- 


The  Real  Bismarck. 


siastic,  mocking,  which,  better  than  any  official  document, 
form  a  kind  of  anthology  of  the  habits  of  mind  most  charac- 
teristic of  the  ex-Chancellor. 

Before  going  farther  it  may  be  as  well  to  remark  that  the 
castle  of  Schonhausen  here  referred  to  is  the  old  patrimonial 
estate  of  Bismarck,  of  much  less  importance  than  the  great 
seigneurial  castle  situated  in  the  same  neighbourhood.  This 
last  belonged  also  to  one  of  the  branches  of  the  Bismarck 
family,  who  found  it  necessary  to  sell  it.  We  shall  see  some- 
what later  how  the  Chancellor  possessed  himself  of  the  prop- 
erty and  of  the  ennobling  particle  which  belongs  with  the 
domain ;  for  it  is  only  by  virtue  of  this  particle  that  the  Bis- 
marck-Schonhausens  have  since  been  entitled  to  call  them- 
selves Bismarcks  von  Schonhausen. 

In  July,  1806,  William  Ferdinand,  Otto's  father,  quitted 
the  army,  as  has  been  said,  to  be  married  to  Louise  Menken. 
The  two  young  people  had  met  at  Court,  where  Louise  Men- 
ken, being  an  orphan,  was  especially  petted.  William  Fer- 
dinand took  his  wife  to  Schonhausen,  but  their  honey- 
moon was  clouded  less  than  three  months  later  by  the  sad- 
ness and  alarm  attendant  upon  the  war.  The  French  in- 
vaded the  country  about  October  ist  of  the  same  year,  and  in 
a  chateau  near  Schonhausen  Marshal  Soult  established  his 
head-quarters. 

The  Germans  have  not  a  little  reproached  us  for  the  dep- 
redations committed  by  our  troops  during  that  invasion. 
Even  at  Schonhausen,  they  say,  everything  was  ravaged  by 
Soult's  men.  It  might  be  supposed  that  the  genealogical 
tree  of  the  Bismarcks  had  been  slashed  with  innumerable 
sabre-cuts;  that  even  Madame  von  Bismarck  had  been  in 
imminent  peril  of  violation. 

As  a  matter  of  fact  the  young  couple  received  not  the 
smallest  injury. 

Fear  led  them  to  seek  refuge,  one  night,  in  a  neighbouring 


4  The  Real  Bismarck. 

forest,  and  profound  was  their  surprise,  upon  returning  next 
day,  to  find  the  village  and  the  chateau  still  unharmed. 
There  had  not  been  disturbed  even  a  hiding-place  in  which 
Ferdinand  von  Bismarck  had  so  clumsily  concealed  some 
gold  that  he  afterward  found  a  few  pieces  scattered  upon  the 
soil  about  the  hole;  none  had  taken  the  trouble  to  pick  it  up, 
and  the  whole  treasure  was  discovered  undisturbed.  This 
circumstance,  however,  did  not  prevent  the  Prussian  major 
from  going  the  same  day  to  the  French  general  and  asking 
for  a  guard  of  soldiers  for  picket  duty;  a  favour  which  was 
immediately  accorded;  It  is  not,  then,  in  the  horrors  of  the 
(  invasion  that  the  German  Chancellor  (who  was  not  then 
born)  finds  a  reason  for  his  hatred  of  the  French. 

In  1816,  one  year  after  the  birth  of  Otto,  his  parents  in- 
herited from  a  cousin  the  domains  of  Kultz,  Kneiphof  and 
Jarchelin;  they  established  themselves  upon  the  most  con- 
siderable of  the  three,  Kneiphof,  situated  in  the  district  of 
Naugart,  in  Pomerania. 

It  is  a  singular  coincidence  that  when  Otto  von  Bismarck 
came  into  the  world  his  mother  determined  to  make  of  him 
later  a  diplomatist;  as  for  his  elder  brother,  Bernard,  she 
decided  that  he  should  enter  the  civil  administration.  These 
two  desires  have  been  realized,  contrary  to  the  fate  which 
generally  overtakes  such  desires. 

A  circumstance  which  throws  a  peculiar  light  upon  the 
customs  of  the  German  nobility  of  that  time  was  the  inser- 
tion in  a  local  paper  of  the  following  announcement: 

The  undersigned  announces  to  his  friends  and  acquaint- 
ances the  happy  deliverance  of  his  wife  of  a  well-condi- 
tioned boy,  and  excuses  them  from  all  felicitations. 

FERDINAND  VON  BISMARCK 

The  biographers  of  Bismarck  have  been  at  great  pains 
to  discover  "  remarkable  characteristics  "  in  the  subject  of 


The  Real  Bismarck.  5 

their  pens,  even  from  the  earliest  years  of  his  childhood.  I 
have  read  and  reread  the  anecdotes  which  have  been  offered, 
and  I  protest  they  have  appeared  to  me  so  banal,  so  little  sig- 
nificant, that  I  dare  not  risk  their  repetition  here. 

At  the  age  of  six  years  Otto  was  sent  to  join  his  brother 
Bernard  at  Plaman  Institute  in  Berlin.  The  five  or  six  years 
which  were  passed  there  have  left  him  but  regrettable  mem- 
ories. The  food  was  insufficiently  nourishing,  the  discipline 
severe,  and  despite  the  ascendency  which  the  young  Otto 
gained  over  his  fellows,  he  was  more  feared  by  them  than 
loved.  Frequent  vacations  were  happily  a  recompense  for 
the  tribulations  there  endured;  when  the  small  pensionnaire 
was  permitted  to  renew  his  strength  in  the  pure  air  of  the 
woods  and  fields  of  Pomerania.  He  also  profited  by  the  op- 
portunity to  indulge  to  the  full  his  precocious  taste  for  the 
chase. 

The  following  comical  anecdote  demonstrates  the  inad- 
visability  of  placing  firearms  in  the  hands  of  a  youngster  of 
eleven  years;  moreover,  it  is  a  revelation  of  the, humorous 
temperament  of  Bismarck. 

In  a  glade  in  the  park  at  Schonhausen  is  a  statue  of  Her- 
cules, now  half-covered  with  lichens.  The  little  Otto  re- 
turning one  day  from  hunting  and  passing  behind  the  myth- 
ological god,  it  occurred  to  him  that  it  would  be  amusing  to 
put  a  charge  of  lead  into  his  legs. 

His  father,  soon  after  discovering  the  misdeed,  said  to 
Otto:  "  Did  you  fire  that  shot?  " 

"  Yes,"  replied  the  child,  "  but  I  didn't  suppose  he  was 
so  easily  hurt.  When  I  fired  he  put  his  right  hand  near  the 
spot  I  hit  and  has  not  taken  it  away." 

The  Hercules  is  indeed  represented  with  his  right  hand  be- 
hind his  back. 

The  elder  Bismarck  laughed  at  the  child's  droll  idea  and 
the  incident  was  followed  by  no  unpleasant  consequences. 


6  The  Real  Bismarck. 

In  1827  was  born  the  little  Malvina,  already  mentioned, 
and  Otto  was  entered  at  the  Frederic-William  grammar 
school,  where,  this  time,  he  was  so  fortunate  as  to  attract 
the  notice  of  the  distinguished  professor,  Dr.  Bonnell,  who 
was  charmed  by  his  frank,  open  face,  his  large  eyes  full  of 
energy  and  intelligence.  Under  his  direction  the  pupil  Bis- 
marck promptly  distinguished  himself,  particularly  in  his- 
tory and  French.  Otto  himself  became  so  attached  to  his 
master  that,  two  years  after,  when  his  brother  Bernard 
quitted  the  class  in  rhetoric,  number  one,  in  order  to  take  up 
the  study  of  the  law — he  followed  Dr.  Bonnell  to  the  gram- 
mar-school of  the  Cloitre  Gris,  and  some  months  later  be- 
came his  pupil. 

Notwithstanding  Dr.  Bonnell's  praise  (and  how  could  he 
speak  otherwise  than  in  praise  when  the  Chancellor  so  ef- 
fectually proved  his  affection  and  gratitude  for  his  old  mas- 
ter, afterward  director  of  the  Werder  grammar-school,  as  to 
confide  to  his  care  the  education  of  his  sons  Herbert  and 
William?),  it  cannot  be  said  that  Bismarck  left  a  very  brill- 
iant record  at  the  Cloitre  Gris.  Not  until  April,  1832,  did  he 
succeed  in  passing  the  Baccalaureate,  and  his  diploma  shows 
a  deplorable  tendency  to  evade  the  course. 


Charles- William  Ferdinand  von  Bismarck,  Father  of  the  Chancellor. 


II. 

Bismarck  at  the  University  of  Gottingen— The  Handsome  Student 
— Inaneness  of  Academical  Vetoes— The  Ulm  Dogs  Come  Upon 
the  Scene — First  Conflict  With  the  Rector — The  Door  of  the 
Dungeon — The  Hannover  a — A  propos  of  Boots — Bismarck 
Loses  a  Wager  Relative  to  the  Unification  of  Germany — The 
Duellist  Interdicted  by  the  Academic  Council — Tardy  Remorse 
— Bismarck  is  Expelled  from  Jena — Therapeutic  Pork-Butcher's 
Meats— All's  Well  That  Ends  Well— Bismarck  is  Appointed 
Auscultator. 

One  month  later,  Otto  von  Bismarck  became  a  law-stu- 
dent at  the  University  of  Gottingen.  He  was  then  a  very 
pretty  boy  with  curling  hair,  and  "  eyes  clear  and  profound, 
which  alone  were  expressive  in  the  mask  of  immobility 
which  his  face  wore,  and  which  seemed  to  absorb  all  that 
they  looked  upon." 

The  impassive  expression  of  his  face  is  inherited,  it  ap- 
pears, and  all  the  vivacity  of  the  mind,  all  the  intensity  of 
thought  and  volition  takes  refuge  in  the  eyes;  eyes  of  a  re- 
markable depth  and  earnestness  of  expression!  Already, 
also,  was  to  be  observed  the  same  harmony  of  outline  which 
later  distinguished  the  face  of  the  Imperial  Chancellor;  a 
face  notable  for  its  bilateral  symmetry,  for  the  breadth  of 
brow,  the  clean-cut  nose  with  its  finely  curved  nostrils,  the 
square,  powerful  chin,  the  dome-like  shape  of  the  head,  the 
face,  in  short,  of  a  Titan,  which  engravings  and  caricatures 
have  sufficiently  popularized  to  make  further  description 
unnecessary.  The  reader  may,  indeed,  refer  to  the  authen- 
tic portraits  contained  in  this  volume,  which  represent  him 
at  various  ages. 


io  The  Real  Bismarck. 

A  rapid  growth  had,  at  this  period,  almost  spiritualized 
the  student's  features;  his  professors  have  since  described 
him  as  a  young  man  who  too  rapidly  attained  his  growth 
and  who  was  peculiarly  tall  and  gaunt.  The  student-life 
of  Otto  von  Bismarck  was  much  like  that  of  others  of  his 
kind,  a  life  of  drinking  and  righting  which  leaves  scant  op- 
portunity for  study  and  which,  in  his  case,  came  very  near 
to  compromising  his  entry  upon  the  career  which  he  had  in 
view.  Not  that  this  dissipated  existence  was  particularly 
to  the  taste  of  Otto  von  Bismarck;  on  the  contrary,  he 
had  even  then  a  devout  love  of  nature,  of  the  country,  of 
great  hunts;  and  his  love  of  animals  was  so  deeply  rooted 
that  he  might  perhaps  have  preferred  the  society  of  his 
dogs,  which  had  become  his  inseparable  companions,  to  that 
of  his  comrades  in  debauchery.  Yet  was  not  it  necessary 
to  make  some  sacrifice  to  win  the  honour  of  being  admitted 
to  a  university  which  was  then  enjoying  a  European  celeb- 
rity? 

The  habits  of  the  German  student  have  frequently  been 
described.  It  is  known  that  he  has  always  a  pipe  or  a  chop 
in  his  mouth  and  that  all  quarrels  are  settled  by  duels  with 
the  rapier,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  at  the  time  of  his 
matriculation  he  is  obliged  by  the  university  to  sign  all  kinds 
of  agreements — among  them,  not  to  drink  beer  or  fight  a 
duel. 

Our  hero's  share  of  duels  was  twenty-eight,  generally 
terminating  happily  for  him,  save  one  of  which  he  still  bears 
the  scar  upon  his  left  cheek. 

Anecdotes  abound  of  the  student-life  of  Bismarck,  yet  too 
great  credit  is  hardly  to  be  lent  to  them;  besides,  they  offer 
little  of  general  interest  except  in  so  far  as  they  afford  illus- 
trations of  the  logical  development  of  the  two  essentials  of 
his  character:  namely,  humour  and  an  extraordinary  sym- 
pathy with  animals;  a  sympathy  possessed  in  common  with 


The  Real  Bismarck.  H 

nearly  all  great  humorists,  being  the  natural  extreme  of 
their  contempt  for  humankind.  Dogs — always  large  dogs, 
for  he  is  interested  only  in  those  whose  features  have  some- 
what of  the  human,  whose  fiery  eyes  attest  to  a  life  fiercely 
ardent  as  his  own— dogs  figured  in  all  his  adventures.  He 
substituted  them  for  himself  or  himself  for  them,  indiffer- 
ently, according  to  the  nature  of  the  escapade.  When  they 
appeared  upon  the  scene  together  the  dog  snapped,  the 
student  supplied  the  gestures — or  the  reverse. 

The  history  of  his  first  conflict  with  the  Rector  of  the 
University  is  worthy  of  being  repeated.  Bismarck  was  cele- 
brating, by  a  banquet,  his  election  to  the  membership  of  the 
"  Hannovera  "  corporation.  The  drinking  was  heavy,  as  al- 
ways under  such  circumstances,  and  Bismarck,  in  the  course 
of  an  animated  discussion  flung  an  empty  bottle  out  of  the 
window.  A  passer-by,  whom  it  had  doubtless  struck,  lodged 
a  complaint,  and,  as  the  fete  had  been  given  in  the  house  in 
which  Bismarck  lived,  our  student  was  summoned  to  appear 
before  the  Rector.  He  was  still  in  bed  when  the  summons 
was  brought  him,  with  this  superscription :  "  Dominus  von 
Bismarck." 

The  young  dominus  rose,  arrayed  himself  in  his  dressing- 
gown,  slipped  his  feet  into  his  regimental  boots,  donned 
his  cylindrical  (sic)  head-covering,  and  in  this  singular  attire 
presented  himself,  pipe  in  mouth  and  followed  by  his  great 
English  dog,  before  the  Rector's  door.  The  Rector,  terri- 
fied at  the  approach  of  the  huge  brute,  barricaded  himself 
behind  his  desk  and  began  by  condemning  the  young 
dominus  to  the  payment  of  five  thalers'  fine,  that  he  might 
learn  to  present  himself  before  the  Academic  Tribunal  in 
more  conventional  garb.  In  the  course  of  the  interrogatory, 
Bismarck,  having  pretended  that  the  bottle  which  had  fallen 
into  the  street  might  have  found  its  way  there  unassisted, 
and  offering  to  demonstrate  the  truth  of  the  assertion  with 


12  The  Real  Bismarck. 

the  ink-bottle,  the  latter  concluded  by  ordering  him  to  the 
cell  for  three  days. 

Bismarck  must  have  made  intimate  acquaintance  with  the 
cell,  for  he  assures  us  that  he  spent  there  seventeen  days,  as 
many  at  Berlin  as  at  Gottingen.  A  door  is  still  shown  at 
Gottingen  whereon  is  very  legibly  inscribed  the  name  of 
Bismarck;  it  should  be  added,  however,  that  as  sixty-six 
years  have  since  elapsed,  some  biographers  venture  to  doubt 
the  authenticity  of  this  witness. 

The  "  Hannovera  " — of  which  Bismarck  had  become  one 
of  the  most  distinguished  members,  both  as  a  drinker  and 
as  a  fighter — held  its  meetings  either  at  the  inn  of  the 
"  Vieille  Mesange  "  or  at  Mardewal's  Garden,  following  the 
custom  which  obliges  the  local  seat  of  all  corporations  of 
German  students  to  be  invariably  a  beer-shop.  There  the 
costume  was  sufficiently  bizarre.  It  consisted  of  a  short 
jacket  of  blue  or  black  velvet  or  of  red  plaid,  and  was  com- 
pleted by  a  pair  of  formidable  boots,  often  provided  with 
spurs,  and  a  tiny  cap  of  the  colours  of  the  province  to  which 
the  student  belonged. 

Bismarck  had  taken  a  vizored  cap,  a  black  jacket  and  var- 
nished boots.  Is  not  it  related,  a  propos  of  the  last,  that  the 
young  student  had  threatened  to  have  his  boot-maker  de- 
voured by  his  dog  if  the  boots  were  not  delivered  in  twenty- 
four  hours?  The  unhappy  boot-maker  must  have  passed  the 
night  a^  work,  stimulated,  besides,  by  the  sinister  voice  of 
Bismarck  as  he  from  time  to  time  prowled  around  the  shop, 
reminding  him  of  the  fate  which  awaited  him;  and  all  be- 
cause the  young  man  had  declared  to  his  friends  that  he 
should  have  his  boots  on  the  morrow,  and  did  not  wish  to 
be  given  the  lie.  This  anecdote  in  its  entirety  is  related  in 
the  "  Dictionnaire  Larousse,"  in  which  I  am  astonished  to 
find  such  lightly-chosen  examples;  for  if  the  story  of  the 


The  Real  Bismarck.  13 

boots  is  apocryphal  (and  the  rarity1  of  German  versions 
seems  to  prove  it)  it  is  a  pitiable  invention;  if  authentic  it 
lacks  interest  from  the  fact  that  so  coarse  a  trait  has  no 
psychological  value. 

Of  much  more  worth,  certainly,  is  the  story  which  Bis- 
marck himself  relates,  of  his  wager  relative  to  the  unity  of 
Germany. 

"  It  was,  I  remember,"  he  said  to  Herr  Busch,  "  toward 
1833- 

"  I  had  made  a  wager  with  a  friend  in  the  '  Hannovera/  an 
American,  as  to  whether  or  not  in  twenty  years  Germany 
would  be  united.  The  winner  agreed  to  pay  twenty-five 
bottles  of  champagne  to  the  loser,  who,  himself,  was  con- 
demned to  cross  the  Atlantic.  I  naturally  wagered  the  uni- 
fication. Well,  the  twenty  years  having  passed  in  1853,  I 
recalled  this  wager,  and,  as  I  had  lost,  I  thought  of  seeking 
my  old  University  chum  in  America;  but  he  was  dead.  As 
a  matter  of  fact  the  name  he  bore  did  not  promise  a  long  life; 
it  was  something  like  Coffin — Sarg."  2 

"  The  marvel  is,  however,  to  think  that  even  in  1833  I 
should  have  had  something  like  a  presentiment  of  that  uni- 
fication which  to-day  is  an  accomplished  fact." 

It  does  seem  marvellous  indeed ;  and  it  is  the  first  time  that 
Bismarck  is  found,  to  contradict  his  fundamental  theory 
which,  denying  the  existence  of  providential  men,  makes 
chance  the  essential  factor  of  political  events,  thus  removing 
them  from  all  human  prevision. 

As  has  been  said,  during  the  two  half-years  passed  at 
Gottingen,  Bismarck  fought  no  less  than  twenty-eight  duels. 
Moreover,  he  served  as  witness  in  an  encounter  with  pistols, 

1  Frederic  von  Koppen  reports  it,  but  under  a  very  different  form,  and 
assigning  to  it  a  date  posterior  to  the  university  period  ;  moreover,  the  dog 
plays  no  part  in  his  version. 

2  Sarg  signifies,  in  German,  coffin. 


14  The  Real  Bismarck. 

for  which  he  was  summoned  before  the  Academic  Tribunal 
and  condemned  to  ten  days'  incarceration,  in  spite  of  the 
explanations  by  which  he  endeavoured  to  convince  his 
judges  that  the  favorable  issue  of  the  duel  was -due  solely 
to  his  intervention. 

From  that  time  he  was  narrowly  watched  by  the  Council, 
which  profited  by  this  first  affair  to  forbid  his  duelling  for 
the  future,  upon  pain  of  expulsion.  He  was  thus  forced  to 
content  himself  with  the  part  of  spectator;  even  in  this  qual- 
ity he  was  condemned  to  three  days  in  the  cell  for  having 
encouraged  by  his  presence  a  series  of  illicit  acts. 

An  existence  so  agitated  was  good  neither  for  study  nor 
for  the  student.  Bismarck  has  often  since  declared  that  his 
sojourn  in  Gottingen  appeared  to  him  as  a  black  point  in 
his  youth.  "  The  veritable  cause  of  the  evil,"  he  one  day 
said,  "  was  my  affiliation  with  the  Hannovera  Society,  which 
obliged  me  to  lead  a  life  which,  left  alone,  I  should  perhaps 
not  have  followed,  and  which  even  obliged  me  to  run  into 
debt.  For  years  the  memory  of  the  trifling  debts  contracted 
at  Gottingen  has  pursued  and  saddened  me;  from  which  I 
conclude  that,  were  I  obliged  to  imitate  the  students  of  to- 
day, my  entire  life  would  not  suffice  in  which  to  exhaust  my 
remorse." 

Later,  in  1885,  Bismarck  was  heard  to  express  the  same 
sentiment  to  a  delegate  who  had  brought  him,  as  an  anni- 
versary gift,  a  collection  of  his  official  notes  taken  at  the 
University.  "  It  is  not  without  chagrin,"  said  he,  "  that  I 
recall  that  period  of  my  life;  and  I  am  persuaded  to-day 
that  the  Academic  Tribunal  showed  me  an  indulgence  ex- 
ceeding my  desert." 

The  last  months  of  his  sojourn  at  Gottingen  were  sig- 
nalized by  an  adventure  which  must  have  contributed  not  a 
little  to  his  decision,  made  shortly  after,  to  finish  his  studies 
at  Berlin. 


The  Real  Bismarck.  15 

The  students  at  Jena,  having  heard  of  his  exploits,  and 
being  desirous  of  making  his  acquaintance,  sent  him  a  formal 
invitation  to  visit  them.  Bismarck,  much  flattered,  arrived 
in  Jena  with  his  friend  von  Trotha,  and  both  spent  there 
some  days  and  nights  of  uninterrupted  festivity.  But  one 
morning  while  Bismarck  was  still  in  bed  he  received  a  visit 
from  the  beadle  of  the  University  of  Jena,  who  respectfully 
announced  to  him  a  decree  of  the  Academical  Council,  re- 
quiring him  and  his  friend  to  quit  the  city  immediately;  the 
Council  claiming  that  they  were  corrupting  the  youth  of 
the  University  of  Jena. 

The  "  Thuringian  Society,"  of  which  Bismarck  was  the 
guest,  resolved  to  protest  against  this  expulsion  while  pre- 
paring for  the  two  young  men  a  triumphant  exodus.  To 
this  end  they  hired  a  landau  drawn  by  six  horses.  The  dele- 
gates of  the  society  seated  themselves  in  the  carriage,  plac- 
ing the  two  visitors  between  them;  they  were  thus  con- 
ducted beyond  the  city  gates,  escorted  by  their  numerous 
colleagues  singing  at  the  top  of  their  voices  the  Gaudeamns 
igitur. 

Never  did  Bismarck's  health  suffer  from  these  orgies. 
The  iron  constitution  with  which  the  young  Pomeranian 
giant  was  then  blessed  was  proof  against  every  excess,  leav- 
ing to  the  chancellor  the  care  of  paying  the  debts  of  the  stu- 
dent. Once  only/during  his  second  term  at  Gottingen,  was 
he  overtaken  by  a  slight  gastric  fever  and  obliged  to  sum- 
mon a  physician,  by  whom  quinine  was  prescribed;  but  the 
prescription  arriving  at  the  same  time  with  a  consignment 
of  sausages  and  goose  pates  from  Kniephof,  Otto  von  Bis- 
marck preferred  to  administer  a  dozen  sausages,  and  re- 
covered in  spite  of  them. 

At  the  end  of  the  year  1833  Bismarck  asked  for  his  exeat, 
and  it  was  with  profound  relief,  as  may  be  readily  supposed, 
that  the  Rector  of  the  University  of  Gottingen  signed  it.  It 


16  The  Real  Bismarck. 

was,  moreover,  accompanied  by  remarks  hardly  flattering 
to  himself.  He  had  still  some  days  of  incarceration  uncom- 
pleted, but  by  special  favour  he  was  permitted  to  finish  the 
term  at  Berlin,  to  which  University  he  removed  in  order  to 
conclude  his  studies. 

Vacation  and  a  change  of  air  greatly  benefited  the  young 
man;  he  reached  Berlin  in  the  best  spirits  yet  still  with 
little  apparent  inclination  to  follow  the  course  with  a  more 
examplary  assiduity.  The  celebrated  Savigny  at  that  time 
occupied  one  of  the  most  important  chairs  at  the  University 
of  Berlin.  It  was  not  until  the  beginning  of  1835  tnat  ne  de- 
termined to  take  a  coach  and  attack  his  examinations;  the 
subjects  had  then  to  be  mastered  with  prodigious  haste. 
Nevertheless  he  obtained  his  degree  and  on  the  fourth  of 
June,  1835,  was  appointed  auscultator  at  the  Stadtgericht. 


III. 

First  Humorous  Trait  of  the  Auscultator  Bismarck— A  Recalcitrant 
Divorcfe—The  Worldly  Bismarck— A  Lesson  in  Hospitality 
Given  to  an  Attache  of  Embassy— Military  Service— Bismarck 
Saves  the  Life  of  His  Stable-Boy,  and  Obtains  a  Medal  for 
Life- Saving— His  Natatory  Feats— Bismarck,  Gentleman- 
Farmer— The  Legend  of  the  Tolle  Yunker.  The  "  Chevaliers 
de  la  Desceuvrance  "—Period  of  Informal  Correspondence- 
Singular  Fox-Chase — The  Cares  of  a  Farmer — Cynicism  or 
Humour?— How  a  Good  Peace  is  Concluded— Bismarck  Aban- 
dons an  Administrative  Career — A  Love  Idyl — An  Impatient 
Fiancee — Bismarck  is  Married  to  Fraulein  Jeanne  von  Putt- 
kamer — His  Capabilities  as  a  Nurse — Children  and  Grandchil- 
dren of  the  Chancellor. 

Up  to  this  time  the  real  soul  of  Otto  von  Bismarck  had 
been  silent  as  that  of  his  dogs;  subdued  by  the  factitious 
truculency  of  the  student.  It  was  not  until  after  his  return 
to  the  place  of  his  birth  that  it  began  to  awaken,  to  expand 
and  take  its  flight  toward  the  proud  summits  of  humorous 
sentimentality,  when  the  eyes  of  the  young  country  gentle- 
man would  fill  with  tears  of  emotional  piety  at  sight  of  a 
plough !  for  at  heart  he  was  but  an  obstinately  faithful  slave, 
a  watch-dog,  endowed  with  intellectual  faculties  of  the  high- 
est order  and  with  a  genial  egoism. 

But  the  moment  for  re-entering  the  fold  was  not  yet. 
The  auscultator  was  to  serve  his  juridical  apprenticeship 
at  Berlin,  where,  this  time,  he  established  himself  in  the 
family  apartment  in  the  Bahrengasse,  already  occupied  by 
his  brother  Bernard  who  had  just  resigned  his  post  of  officer 
of  the  guard,  in  order  to  prepare  for  his  examination  as  ref- 
erendary. 

'7 


1 8  The  Real  Bismarck. 

Otto  at  first  took  his  duties  very  seriously,  displaying  an 
even  exaggerated  zeal  in  their  discharge,  if  one  may  believe 
the  following  anecdote,  not  devoid  of  a  certain  vis  comica. 

One  day,  outraged  by  the  intemperate  language  and  dis- 
respectful attitude  of  a  client,  Otto  von  Bismarck  sprang 
from  the  seat  which  he  occupied  and  flung  at  the  imperti- 
nent fellow  this  menace — scarcely  appropriate  to  the  dignity 
of  the  place: 

"  Choose  your  words  more  carefully,  sir,  or  I  will  kick 
you  out ! " 

This  digression  was  justly  displeasing  to  the  presiding 
judge  who,  besides,  considered  that  the  young  man  was 
rather  overstepping  the  bounds  of  his  prerogative. 

"  Pardon,  Herr  auscultator,"  protested  the  judge,  with 
asperity,  "  kicking  people  out  is  my  concern." 

The  interrupted  discussion  continued  with  animation  and 
again  the  defendant's  language  became  offensive. 

"  Once  more,"  cautioned  Bismarck,  angrily,  "  choose 
your  words  more  carefully,  sir,  or  I  will  have  you  kicked  out 
by  the  Stadtgerichtsrath." 

In  another  circumstance  this  same  readiness  of  wit,  ac- 
companied by  the  most  persuasive,  the  most  conciliatory 
arguments,  was  brought  to  nought  by  the  obstinacy  of  a 
married  woman  who  demanded  an  unconditional  separation. 
Remonstrated  with  by  Bismarck  and  one  of  his  colleagues 
in  turn,  who  boasted  that  he  should  succeed  where  the 
younger  man,  doubtless  for  lack  of  experience,  had  failed, 
the  woman  persisted  in  her  demand  and  the  judges  were 
obliged  to  yield.  Bismarck  has  pretended  that  this  incident, 
opening  his  eyes  to  the  insufficiency  of  all  worldly  justice, 
contributed  somewhat  to  his  disillusionment  as  to  his  new 
career. 

Between  times  the  young  auscultator  was  very  mundane; 
and  as  he  was  both  a  good  talker  and  an  elegant  dancer  the 


Bismarck. 


The  Real  Bismarck.  21 

salons  of  Berlin  contended  for  the  privilege  of  receiving 
him.  Among  the  cosmopolitan  aristocracy  particularly,  he 
was  highly  appreciated  for  the  correctness  as  well  as 'the 
facility  with  which  he  spoke  English  and  French. 

Yet  the  worldly  element  was  not  his  ideal,  for  there,  too, 
his  taste  for  jokes  of  doubtful  propriety  led  him  to  play 
pranks  which  were  rather  damaging  to  his  reputation  as  a 
dandy. 

For  instance,  that  ridiculous  history  of  the  bread-and- 
butter  sandwiches,  by  which  he  essayed  the  giving  of  a  lesson 
in  hospitality  to  the  master  of  a  house  at  which  he  was  a 
frequent  visitor.  This  man,  an  attache  of  a  certain  em- 
bassy, gave  frequent  balls;  brilliant,  animated,  but  innocent 
of  a  buffet.  The  omission  was  not  to  the  liking  of  Otto  von 
Bismarck,  whose  appetite,  still  celebrated,  was  aggravated 
by  his  exertions  as  a  dancer.  He  finally  agreed  with  his  com- 
panions upon  a  method  of  apprising  the  host  of  his  short- 
comings in  the  matter  of  a  buffet.  One  evening  when  the 
ball  was  in  full  swing,  at  a  given  signal  each  one  of  these 
gentlemen  drew  from  his  pocket  a  bread-and-butter  sand- 
wich and  began  eagerly  demolishing  it  before  the  eyes  of 
his  scandalized  partner. 

The  lesson  was  heeded,  but  those  who  gave  it  were  called 
upon  to  apply  to  themselves  the  sic  vos  non  vobis  of  the  Latin 
poet;  for,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  there  was  a  buffet  at  the  next 
ball,  only  those  young  men  were  not  invited. 

At  the  end  of  a  year  Otto  von  Bismarck  was  named 
Referendary  to  the  Royal  Tribunal  of  Aix-la-Chapelle, 
whence  he  passed  to  that  of  Potsdam,  then  to  that  of  Griefs- 
wald,  that  he  might  follow  the  course  in  agronomy  given  by 
the  near-by  faculty  of  Eldena.  All  that  is  known  of  him  at 
this  period  is  that  his  reserved,  disdainful,  even  haughty 
character,  disconcerted  his  superiors  as  it  kept  at  a  distance 
his  inferiors  and  his  equals. 


22  The  Real  Bismarck. 

The  affairs  of  the  landed  proprietors,  hardly  in  brilliant 
shape  since  the  invasion  of  the  French,  began  to  look  per- 
ceptibly worse.  The  death  of  Madame  von  Bismarck  in 
January,  1839,  having  reunited  the  two  brothers  under  the 
paternal  roof,  it  was  decided  that  they  should  undertake  the 
administration  of  the  Pomeranian  estates  and  attempt  to  im- 
prove their  cultivation.  The  plan  was  put  into  execution 
the  following  Easter,  the  date  at  which  Otto's  conditional 
appointment  expired.  Herr  von  Bismarck,  Sr.,  returned 
with  his  daughter  to  Schonhausen,  giving  up  his  other  estates 
to  his  two  sons,  thereafter  united  in  the  struggle  against  the 
disaster  which  threatened  to  overtake  the  family  property. 

This  association  was  painful  at  the  start,  the  financial  situ- 
ation of  the  two  brothers  being  most  involved.  Other  bi- 
ographers have  little  to  say  of  this  troublous  time,  preferring 
to  exhibit  Bismarck  as  utilizing  his  leisure  in  cultivating  his 
knowledge  of  military  tactics ;  that  is,  lavishing  periods  of 
instruction,  as  an  officer  of  reserves. 

Upon  one  of  these  occasions,  on  the  way  to  Lippehne 
with  a  squad  of  Uhlans,  his  stable-man,  Hildebrand,  ordered 
to  bathe  the  horses,  was  on  the  point  of  drowning  in  the 
rather  deep  waters  of  the  Wendelsee.  Seeing  the  danger, 
Bismarck,  who  was  watching  the  performance  from  one  of 
the  bridges,  without  divesting  himself  of  his  uniform  or  even 
drawing  off  his  gloves,  plunged  head  foremost  into  the  little 
lake  and  rescued  the  man  from  certain  death. 

This  exhibition  of  coolness,  courage,  noble  devotion,  was 
commended  in  the  "  Lippehner  Chronick  "  of  the  time  in 
terms  sufficiently  emphatic,  for  it  was  an  example  of  which 
the  country  gentlemen  of  that  period  were  not  prodigal.  It 
also  procured  for  Bismarck  a  medal  for  courage,  a  propos 
of  which  he  afterward  made  some  of  his  customary  facetious 
remarks. 

Perhaps  it  is  not  here  out  of  place  to  recall  the  fact  that 


The  Real  Bismarck.  23 

the  natatorial  talents  of  Bismarck  were  developed  at  Pla- 
mann  Institute  where  the  Pestalozzi  method  obtained  of 
forcing  the  children  to  leap  headforemost  into  the  Spree. 
For  the  new-comers,  the  very  young  ones,  who  resisted,  it 
took  the  form  of  a  practical  joke,  the  youngsters  and  the 
attendant  himself  considering  it  great  fun  to  make  them 
swallow  a  mouthful  of  water — even  several  mouthfuls,  as  an 
initiative.  When  the  young  Otto  arrived  at  the  Institute  the 
pupils,  arguing  from  his  timid  and  reserved  air,  promised 
themselves  their  usual  sport,  but  at  the  first  river-bath  which 
the  school  took  the  little  Otto  mounted  the  diving  board  and 
fearlessly  plunged  into  the  water,  under  the  eyes  of  his  dis- 
comfited companions. 

The  moment  came,  at  last,  when  he  was  to  be  enabled  to 
quench  his  thirst  for  liberty  and  independence,  for  his 
brother  Bernard  married  and  established  himself  with  his 
wife  at  Naugard,  whence  he  was  to  direct  the  Landsrath. 

Otto  von  Bismarck  alone  administered  the  estates  of  / 
Kniephof  and  Jarchelin,  while  his  brother  reserved  for  him- 
self Kiilz,  the  domain  nearest  to  Naugard. 

Then  was  revealed  a  Bismarck  entirely  different  from  the  ^ 
one  which  had  been  known  up  to  this  time.  The  emptiness 
of  his  existence  weighed  upon  him;  his  isolation  preyed 
upon  his  mind;  to  escape  from  it  he  abandoned  himself  to 
physical  excesses,  becoming  the  hero  of  a  legend  which  clung 
to  him  even  to  the  time  of  his  marriage.  There  followed  a 
series  of  hunting-parties,  of  infernal  raids,  of  orgies  which, 
if  his  chroniclers  may  be  believed,  were  the  terror  of  the 
countryside  for  a  radius  of  many  miles. 

It  is  permissible  to  suppose,  however,  that  the  dissipations 
of  the  future  diplomatist  did  not  pass  the  limit  of  amuse- 
ments in  which  all  provincials  delight,  once  they  have  freed 
themselves  from  the  restraint  of  military  duty.  In  "  Menage 
de  gargon  "  Balzac  depicts  a  kind  of  mysterious  associa- 


24  The  Real  Bismarck. 

tion  called  the  "  Chevaliers  de  la  Desocuvrance  "  [Knights 
of  Idleness],  the  members  of  which,  a  handful  of  young 
scapegraces,  employed  their  strength  and  intelligence  in 
mystifying  and  terrorizing  the  bourgeois  of  Issoudun,  their 
native  place.  Otto  von  Bismarck  must  for  some  years  have 
led  such  an  existence,  only  in  an  infinitely  different  environ- 
ment; with  all  the  importance  naturally  lent  to  the  life  of  a 
gentleman-farmer  in  a  country  of  fertile  plains  and  immense 
forests. 

When,  for  instance,  he  trapped  foxes  to  set  at  large  in  the 
peaceable  apartment  of  his  cousins,  or  when  he  let  one  of 
his  friends  flounder  helplessly  in  a  marsh,  offering  to  put  a 
bullet  through  his  head  that  he  might  be  spared  the  horrors 
of  imminent  drowning,  our  gentleman-farmer  is  almost  ex- 
cusable, as  consistently  playing  his  role  of  a  humorist  fatally 
inclined  to  violences  and  exaggerations;  he  was  delightfully 
incoherent,  the  most  delicate  sentiments  succeeding  coarse 
jokes,  and  the  one  and  the  other  invariably  extravagant.  He 
is  excused  also  by  the  fact  that  the  life  which  he  led  upon  his 
always  inundated  estates,  risked  becoming  mortally  weari- 
some had  not  it  been  enlivened  by  a  few  such  escapades  and 
by  the  mantle  of  raillery  and  humorous  causticity  which  he 
throws  about  all  things,  even  the  most  lugubrious. 

We  have  now  reached  the  epistolary  period  of  Bismarck's 
life  and  leave  his  letters  to  furnish  further  enlightenment, 
particularly  as  they  are  full  of  information  as  to  the  succes- 
sive stages  in  the  career  of  the  future  diplomatist.  As  has 
been  said,  these  letters  are  addressed  principally  to  his  sister, 
who  had  just  been  married  to  Herr  von  Arnim  (October, 
1844).  They  are  dated,  some  of  them  from  Kniephof,  some 
from  Schonhausen,  where  from  time  to  time  Bismarck  spent 
weeks  together  with  his  father.  Here  is  one  written  on  the 
day  after  the  departure  of  the  young  married  couple : 


The  Real  Bismarck.  25 

After  you  had  gone,  the  house  seemed  very  lonely.  I 
sat  down  near  the  stove  to  smoke  and  reflect  upon  the  ego- 
ism and  unnaturalness  of  young  girls  who,  having  brothers, 
and  what  is  worse,  brothers  who  are  celibates,  inconsider- 
ately get  married  as  though  they  were  in  the  world  for  the 
single  purpose  of  following  their  fabulous  caprices ;  selfish- 
ness of  which  my  sex,  myself  more  than  all,  is  happily  free. 
******* 

Just  now  I  am  stopping  here  with  father.  I  read,  smoke, 
walk  and  help  him  eat  his  lampreys;  then  from  time  to 
time  I  play  with  him  a  comedy  which  he  calls  hunting  the 
fox.  We  turn  out  of  doors  in  a  pelting  rain  (and  at  present 
with  the  mercury  at  six  degrees  Reaumur)  accompanied  by 
Ihle,  Bellin  and  Carl;  we  tramp  through  the  wood,  tak- 
ing every  possible  precaution  against  noise  and  conscien- 
tiously observant  of  the  direction  of  the  wind,  although  all 
of  us,  even,  perhaps,  father,  are  convinced  that  except  for 
an  occasional  fagot-gatherer  there  is  not  a  living  creature 
in  the  wood.  Then  Ihle,  Carl  and  the  two  dogs  run  forward, 
shouting  and  barking  in  a  most  terrifying  manner.  Father, 
with  watchful  eye  and  gun  charged,  stands  as  still  as  a  sta- 
tue, as  if  he  really  expected  to  see  an  animal  appear. 

Finally  Ihle  passes  him,  still  shouting  excitedly.  Turning 
to  me,  father  naively  asks  if  I  have  not  seen  something, 
and  I,  feigning  astonishment,  and  in  a  tone  which  I  try  to 
make  as  natural  as  possible,  reply:  "  Why  no,  not  so  much 
as  could  be  held  in  my  eye!  " 

Three  or  four  hours  passed  in  this  way,  upon  each  occa- 
sion, without  the  interest  of  the  father,  Ihle  or  Carl  wavering 
for  an  instant. 

Besides  this,  we  visit  the  orangery  twice  daily,  and  the 
sheepfold  once;  we  inspect  every  hour  the  four  thermome- 
ters in  the  salon,  move  backward  or  forward  the  barometric 
needles,  and  since  the  sun  has  shone  we  have  succeeded  so 
well  in  regulating  the  clocks  by  it  that  all  strike  at  the  same 
moment  except  the  one  in  the  library,  which  is  just  a  trifle 
slow.  Decidedly  Charles  Fifth  was  a  silly — "  ein  diimmcr 
Kerl! " 


26  The  Real  Bismarck. 

The  Elbe  is  rising;  the  wind  is  from  the  southwest;  the 
last  news  from  Berlin  is  that  the  mercury  has  fallen  to  eight 
degrees  Reaumur. 

Then  after  a  short  interval  followed  another  letter,  which 
enlightens  us  as  to  the  state  of  the  young  man's  heart  and  as 
to  his  anxieties  as  a  landed  proprietor. 

DEAR  SISTER:  It  is  with  the  greatest  difficulty  that  I  re- 
sist a  desire  to  fill  my  letter  with  lamentations  over  the  cul- 
tivation of  my  estate;  the  nightly  frosts,  the  sick  cattle,  the 
unsatisfactory  appearance  of  the  colza;  the  dead  lambs,  the 
famished  sheep,  the  scarcity  of  straw?  of  fodder,  of  pota- 
toes, pasture  and  money.  Add  to  these  woes  that  Jean,  out 
there,  is  whistling  false  and  without  a  pause,  an  infamous 
schottische;  he  is  evidently  endeavouring  to  cure  the  pangs 
of  love  with  his  execrable  music,  which  prevents  my  having 
the  courage  to  forbid  him  to  whistle.  The  ideal  of  his 
dreams,  at  the  instance  of  her  parents,  has  just  refused  his 
hand  and  married  a  wheelwright. 

The  fact  is,  I  shall  have  to  take  a  wife  myself.  I  more 
particularly  feel  the  necessity  since  father  left;  I  seem  to 
myself  utterly  alone  and  abandoned,  and  the  heat  and  hu- 
midity of  the  atmosphere  render  me  melancholy,  and  as 
amorous  as  lovelorn.  It  is  irresistible;  it  would  appear  to 
be  decreed  that  I  shall  marry  Fraulein .  The  world  ex- 
pects it,  and  as  each  of  us  is  alone  nothing  could  be  more 
natural.  True,  she  does  not  love  me,  but  neither  am  I  more 
impressed  with  anyone  else;  it  is  a  good  thing  not  to  change 
one's  inclinations  with  one's  shirt — however  seldom  that  feat 
is  accomplished!  Father  will  have  told  you  with  what  com- 
placence I  supported  the  visits  of  the  women  whom  I  re- 
ceived the  first  of  the  month. 

Upon  my  return  from  Angermunde  I  found  the  Hampel 
overflowed  to  such  an  extent  that  I  was  unable  to  reach 
Kniephof ;  and  as  horses  were  not  procurable  I  was  obliged 
to  spend  the  night  at  Naugard  with  several  commercial 
travellers  and  others  who,  like  myself,  were  merely  waiting 
for  the  waters  to  subside.  All  the  bridges  over  the  Hampel 
had  been  carried  away  so  that  Knobelsdorf  and  myself,  the 


Malvina,  Sister  of  Bismarck. 


The  Real  Bismarck.  29 

kings  of  two  great  cantons,  were  confined  by  the  water  to  a 
patch  of  earth  while  from  Schiewelheim  to  Damm  there  was 
none  visible.  At  one  o'clock  the  waters  again  carried  me 
away  in  one  of  my  carriages  laden  besides  with  three  casks 
of  alcohol,  and  I  am  proud  to  be  able  to  say  that  a  carter  lost 
his  life  in  the  waves  of  my  tributary,  the  Hampel. 


There  is  no  news  to  tell  you,  except  that  my  satisfaction  in 
Belein  continues;  that  at  this  moment,  ten  o'clock  in  the 
evening,  the  thermometer  indicates  six  degrees  above  zero ; 
that  Odin  still  limps  with  his  right  paw  and  clings  with  touch- 
ing tenderness  to  the  society  of  Rebecca,  which  I  have 
chained  with  him.  Good-night,  my  dear,  I  send  you  a  kiss. 
Your  brother  who  loves  you,  BISMARCK. 

It  is  to  be  remarked,  in  passing,  that  the  sprightly  humour 
in  these  two  letters  is  characteristic  of  the  entire  private  cor- 
respondence of  the  great  man.  He  is  especially  apt  at  seiz- 
ing the  jovial  side  of  things,  the  comic  note  in  events  even 
the  most  trifling  or  pitiful;  another  peculiarity  is  that  the 
atmospheric  variations  so  affect  and  interest  this  nature- 
lover,  that  no  matter  in  what  country  he  may  be,  the  indica- 
tions of  thermometer  and  barometer  are  carefully  noted  in 
his  letters. 

Not  that  he  has  delicate  health;  on  the  contrary,  it  has 
always  been  perfect;  and  his  appetite  in  proportion  to  his 
gigantic  stature.  He  has  never  dissembled  his  fondness  for 
good  cheer;  so  little  has  he  sought  to  do  so  that  all  Germany 
has  for  years  encouraged  this  taste.  During  the  war  of  1870- 
71,  the  devotion  of  his  compatriots  manifested  itself  by  the 
supplies  of  meat  and  drink  which  were  sent  across  the  Rhine 
to  him ;  he  himself  said  at  table,  before  Herr  Busch,  that  in 
order  to  work  well  one  must  be  well  nourished.  "  To  con- 
clude a  fair  peace,"  added  the  humorist,  "  I  must  first  have 
plenty  of  good  things  to  eat  and  drink." 


30  The  Real  Bismarck. 

In  January,  1845,  tne  ex-Referendary  was  urged  to  re- 
enter  the  service  of  Government.  He  writes: 

It  is  desired  to  invest  me  with  the  important  charge  of 
Superintendent  of  Dykes;  and  I  am  given  to  hope  for  a 
commission  for  the  Saxon  Landtag,  not,  indeed,  that  of 
Dresden.  Upon  the  acceptance  of  the  first  of  these  posts 
will  depend  the  choice  of  my  future  abiding-place.  This 
charge  is  purely  honorary,  yet  it  has  a  certain  importance 
in  connection  with  Schonhausen  and  adjacent  estates,  for  we 
sink  or  swim  according  as  the  office  is  well  or  ill  discharged. 

On  the  other  hand,  my  friend  C ,  who  wishes  at  all  costs 

to  send  me  into  Prussia,  is  trying  to  procure  for  me  the  post 
of  Royal  Commissioner  for  the  improvements  which  are  be- 
ing carried  into  effect  there.  Bernard,  too,  urges  me  to  go; 
he  pretends  that  I  have  administrative  ability  and  that  it  is  a 
career  which  I  shall  sooner  or  later  embrace.  Cordial  greet- 
ing to  Oscar,  Detler,  Miss  and  the  other  children  from  your 
always  devoted  brother,  BISMARCK. 

Nevertheless,  Bismarck  hesitated;  after  a  few  weeks' 
trial  of  the  position  he  was  about  to  offer  his  resignation, 
when  suddenly,  early  in  the  autumn,  his  father  died.  This 
time  Otto  was  left  entirely  alone,  and  a  few  months  later  he 
accepted  the  post  of  Superintendent  of  Dykes.  Let  us  recol- 
lect here  that  in  the  partition  of  property  which  took  place 
after  the  death  of  Otto's  father,rOtto  inherited  Kniephof  and 
Schonhausen.  Having  become  chatelain  of  Varzin  in  1867 
he  resigned  Kniephof  to  Philip  von  Bismarck,  one  of  his 
brother  Bernard's  sons.  The  estate  of  Kniephof  carries  with 
it  the  right  to  a  seat  in  the  Chamber  of  Lords,  of  which  Otto 
von  Bismarck,  by  an  imperial  decree,  remains  the  holder 
•during  his  life. 

In  the  meantime,  the  love-idyl  to  which  the  young  coun- 
try gentleman  alluded  in  an  earlier  letter,  was  fashioning 
itself  toward  the  desired  completion;  yet  not  without  some 
discouragements ;  for  the  tolle  yunker  had  cast  his  eyes  upon 


The  Real  Bismarck.  31 

a  young  girl  belonging  to  one  of  the  most  haughty  families 
in  the  country — the  Puttkammers.  His  first  meeting  with 
Fraulein  Johanna  von  Puttkammer  had  occurred  two  years 
earlier,  at  the  marriage  of  his  friend  and  neighbour,  Maurice 
von  Blankenbourg  and  Fraulein  von  Thaden-Triglaff ; 
Otto  was  speedily  charmed  by  her  air  of  modest  reserve  and 
the  candour  of  soul  expressed  in  her  blue  eyes. 

They  saw  each  other  again  and  the  young  girl  signified 
her  approval  of  his  attentions;  there  yet  remained  the  con- 
sent of  the  parents  to  obtain.  A  first  effort  was  unsuccessful. 
Herr  von  Puttkammer  was  stupefied  at  the  audacity  of  this 
"  harebrained,  foolhardy  fellow,"  this  "  miscreant "  who 
dared  aspire  to  the  honour  of  becoming  his  son-in-law.  But 
the  candid  Johanna  expressed  her  preference  for  the  hand- 
some Superintendent  of  Dykes,  who  had  just  been  named 
a  Deputy  to  the  Saxon  Landtag,  and  declared  her  belief  in 
his  ability  to  make  her  happy.  The  parents  were  forced  to 
yield  and  Otto  von  Bismarck  was  invited  to  present  himself 
at  Rheinfeld,  the  family  residence. 

Still  hesitating,  the  parents  had  assumed  an  added  dignity 
of  manner  for  the  interview;  but  Otto  was  not  thus  to  be 
imposed  upon;  after  the  first  words  of  greeting  the  young 
man  drew  the  fair  Johanna  into  his  arms  and  so  proclaimed 
his  rights  at  the  outset. 

The  marriage  was  celebrated  on  July  28,  1847,  and  the 
"  cerveau  bride  "  became  a  model  husband ;  the  "  foolhardy 
fellow  "  the  most  admirable  family  man,  for  he  adores  chil- 
dren!— and  the  "  miscreant  "  a  steadfast  upholder  of  his  re- 
ligious principles.  As  for  Frau  von  Bismarck,  her  tender  and 
admiring  affection  for  the  master,  her  blind  devotion  to  the 
man  whose  chosen  companion  she  was  for  nearly  fifty  years, 
were  justified  to  the  very  hour  of  her  death  in  1894.  This 
fact  should  be  emphasized,  for  Herr  von  Bismarck  is  one  of 
the  rare  great  men  whose  domestic  sky  was  never  shadowed 


32  The  Real  Bismarck. 

by  a  cloud,  who  has  never  compromised  with  his  duties  as 
husband  and  father,  and  whose  private  life,  in  the  matters  of 
honour  and  loyalty,  may  defy  the  most  rigorous  investiga- 
tion. 

Furthermore,  the  first  years  of  his  marriage  but  served  to 
develop  the  vocation  for  paternity  evidently  innate  in  him; 
as  proof  of  which  this  letter  to  his  sister,  written  in  1850,  is 
all-sufficient.  Reading  it,  one  is  almost  disposed  to  believe 
that  the  humorist  Bismarck,  with  his  extravagant  jests,  his 
mania  for  making  himself  the  target  for  his  own  darts,  has  in 
him  after  all  but  the  making  of  a  gentle,  peaceable  nurse. 

To  Frau  von  Arnim  at  Norderney. 

Schonhausen,  July  28,  1850. 

I  send  you  a  solemn  letter  of  congratulation  upon  your 
birthday,  which  was  the  twenty-fourth,  I  think?  You  are 
now  really  of  age,  or  you  would  be,  had  not  you  the  happi- 
ness to  belong  to  the  feminine  gender,  the  members  of  which, 
according  to  jurists  themselves,  are  never  freed  from  the 
condition  of  minors,  even  when  they  are  married  to  thick- 
headed imbeciles !  I  will  explain  to  you  why,  in  spite  of  its 
seeming  injustice,  it  is  a  very  wise  institution;  but  not  until, 
in  about  fifteen  days,  you  will  be  within  earshot.  Johanna, 
who  is  still  reposing  in  the  arms  of  Lieutenant  Morpheus, 
should  have  written  you  what  awaits  me :  the  boy  trumpet- 
ing in  a  major  key,  the  girl  in  a  minor  one ;  two  youngsters 
singing  in  the  midst  of  drenched  garments  and  nursing-bot- 
tles and  I,  prepared  to  concern  myself  with  all  as  the  father 
of  a  family  very  properly  should.  I  opposed  the  notion  of 
sending  Mariette  to  the  baths,  in  spite  of  the  counsels  of  all 
the  mothers  and  aunts  who  insist  that  nothing  less  than  sea- 
air  and  salt  baths'  will  benefit  the  poor  child.  As  a  result  I 
receive  numberless  reproaches  for  my  barbarity  and  my 
stinginess  each  time  the  little  one  takes  cold — and  this  will 
continue,  perhaps,  until  she  is  seventy.  "You  see!"  they 
will  say.  "  Ah,  if  Mariette  could  only  have  gone  to  the 
baths!  "  The  little  creature  does,  indeed,  suffer  much  with 
her  eyes,  which  weep  and  close  by  turns;  perhaps  the 


The  Real  Bismarck.  33 

trouble  is  caused  by  the  cutting  of  her  eye-teeth.  Johanna 
is  so  concerned  on  the  child's  account  that  I  have  sent  for 
Dr.  von  Stendhal  to-day. 

In  ending  this  chapter  I  will  mention  the  descendants 
of  the  ex-Chancellor,  who  has  become  a  grandfather  spoiled 
and  adored  by  his  grandchildren,  who  have,  some  of  them, 
reached  man's  estate.  Frau  von  Bismarck  bore  three  chil- 
dren: the  Countess  Maria,  who  has  married  Count  von 
Rantzau  and  has  herself  borne  three  sons;  and  Counts  Her- 
bert and  Wilhelm,  who,  while  yet  very  young,  participated 
in  the  Franco-German  war. 


IV. 

Bismarck,  Deputy  of  Prussia  and  Champion  of  the  Divine  Right  of 
Kings — At  Frankfort — Pessimism  and  Bathing  by  Moonlight 
— How  Bismarck  Got  the  Best  of  the  Proprietor — Plenipoten- 
tiary Extraordinary — Florid  Descriptive  Style  of  the  Letter- 
Writer — Towing  and  Diplomacy — Plenipotentiary  Truffles — 
Across  Russia  in  a  Post-Chaise — Bismarck  and  His  Bears'  at 
St.  Petersburg — Cruel  Epigram  of  Prince  Bariatinsky — Bis- 
marck Sick — He  is  Appointed  Ambassador  to  Paris. 

At  Venice,  during  his  wedding  journey,  Bismarck  had  the 
good  fortune  to  be  presented  for  the  second  time  to  Fred- 
eric William  IV.,  King  of  Prussia,  whom  he  had  met  only 
casually  at  Potsdam.  He  was  invited  to  the  King's  table 
and,  by  his  violence  against  the  liberal  party,  attracted  the 
master's  attention  and  conciliated  his  favour. 

Delegate  to  the  Federal  Diet  of  Berlin,  sent  by  the 
Saxon  Landtag,  he  profited  by  the  troubles  of  1848  to  place 
himself  at  the  head  of  the  Prussian  Reactionaries,  proclaim- 
ing openly  in  the  Tribune  the  conservative  and  authorita- 
tive opinions  to  which  he  has  all  his  life  adhered — for^  Bis- 
marck  is  perhaps  the  only  great  political  man  who  has  never 
Qhanffed  the  fundamental  principles  of  his  Hpctrvnp.  It  is 
true  he  has  shifted  his  diplomatic  ground.  The  famous  de- 
vice originated  by  him  at  this  period :  "  Mit  Gott,  fur  Konig 
und  Vaterland"  ["With  God  for  King  and  Country"] 
might  be  translated  thus :  "  The  country  submissive  to  a 
King  who  is  only  second  to  God."  Only  later  did  he  rec- 
ognize the  insufficiency  of  these  two  allies,  the  King  and 
God,  and  consider  necessary  the  addition  of  that  all-power- 
ful auxiliary — the  Army. 

34 


The  Real  Bismarck.  35 

In  1849  ne  had  himself  elected  to  the  second  Prussian 
Chamber,  and  during  his  sojourn  in  Berlin  he  founded  the 
"  Gazette  de  la  Croix"  which  from  the  start  posed  as  the 
resolute  defender  of  "  the  divine  right  of  kings."  In  May, 
1851,  he  attended  the  Diet  of  Frankfort,  whither  he  had  him- 
self sent  as  the  associate  of  General  von  Rochow,  delegate 
from  Prussia.  He  was  at  first  ill-received  by  his  colleagues, 
which  is  doubtless  the  reason  of  the  sarcasm  with  which  he 
speaks  of  all  those  "  charlatans,"  as  he  calls  them  in  the  letter 
an  extract  of  which  is  published  in  our  preface.  The  sense 
of  his  uselessness,  of  his  powerlessness,  of  the  inferior  posi- 
tion which  he  was  forced  to  occupy,  the  suspicions  of  those 
about  him,  superinduced  a  veritable  attack  of  spleen,  com- 
plicated with  a  black  pessimism  which  he  attempted  to  over- 
come by  taking  numberless  baths  in  the  Rhine  by  moon- 
light, and  by  sending  to  Frau  von  Bismarck  lucubrations  in 
the  manner  of  the  following: 

The  day  before  yesterday  I  went  to  Wiesbaden  and  re- 
viewed, with  a  mixture  of  melancholy  and  wisdom,  the  scene 
of  my  early  follies.  May  it  please  God  to  fill  with  pure  and 
generous  wine  this  vessel  in  which  the  champagne  of  the 
twenty-first  year  uselessly  fermented,  leaving  only  insipid 

lees.     Where  and  how  are  living  at  this  moment ,  and 

Miss  ?   how  many  are  dead  with  whom  I  flirted  and 

drank  and  played !  Through  how  many  transformations  have 
my  judgments  of  the  world  passed!  how  many  things  now 
appear  small  to  me  which  once  seemed  great!  and  how  many 
do  I  honour  now  which  then  I  despised!  I  cannot  con- 
ceive how  a  man  who  devotes  any  time  to  reflection  and  who 
knows  nothing  nor  desires  to  know  anything,  of  God,  can 
bear  the  abuse  and  the  ennui  of  life.  I  do  not  know  how  I 
should  have  borne  it  then.  If  I  were  forced  to  live  now  with- 
out faith  in  God  or  you  or  the  children,  truly  I  know  not 
why  I  should  not  cast  off  this  life  as  I  would  a  soiled  shirt; 
yet  the  greater  number  of  my  acquaintances  are  in  just  that 
state  of  unbelief — and  live.  When  I  ask  myself  what  motive 


36  The  Real  Bismarck. 

there  is  for  living  so,  for  fatiguing,  irritating  one's  self,  for  in- 
triguing and  spying,  I  have  no  answer.  Do  not  imagine 
from  this  that  I  am  unrelievedly  gloomy:  on  the  contrary! 
it  is  with  me  as  with  the  changing  autumn  foliage;  strong 
and  energetic,  but  touched  with  melancholy,  nostalgia,  regret 
of  the  forest,  the  sea,  the  desert;  of  you  and  the  children; 
the  whole  mingled  with  the  setting  sun  and  Beethoven. 

To  the  installation  of  the  Deputy  at  Frankfort  belongs  an 
anecdote  which  goes  to  prove  that  the  budding  diplomat 
had  not  completely  divested  himself  of  the  old  man,  that  is 
to  say  the  student  burschikos.  He  was  lodging  at  that  time 
in  a  very  handsome  house,  but  not  one  of  the  rooms  was 
provided  with  a  bell.  Bismarck  called  the  proprietor's  at- 
tention to  the  omission  and  requested  that  at  least  one  should 
be  placed  in  his  bedroom. 

But  the  landlord  protested  it  was  not  his  affair,  his  Ex- 
cellency might  have  the  bell  hung  at  his  own  expense. 

Bismarck  was  not  to  be  beaten.  The  following  day,  at 
dawn,  a  detonation  startled  the  entire  household ;  it  had  orig- 
inated in  the  Deputy's  bedroom.  When  the  frightened 
householder  arrived  Bismarck  said  to  him  serenely: 

"  Do  not  be  alarmed,  it  is  I  who  fired  off  a  blank  cart- 
ridge. Having  no  bell  I  took  that  means  of  summoning  my 
servant.  You  will  do  well  to  accustom  yourself  to  the  sound 
for  I  shall  be  forced  to  use  the  same  method  constantly." 

The  same  day  the  desired  bell  was  placed  in  the  chamber. 

A  few  months  sufficed  to  enable  the  Deputy  from  Prussia 
to  triumph  over  his  enemies  and  his  pessimism,  thanks  to  his 
^adaptability  and  also  to  his  zealous  supporters,  such  as  Herr 
von  Manfeuffel,  the  presiding  minister,  and  to  the  Prince  of 
Prussia  himself,  the  future  Emperor  William,  who  was  soon 
to  be  god-father  to  Bismarck's  second  son,  Count  William, 
familiarly  called  Bill. 

By  the  King's  favour  he  was  sent  the  following  year  (1852) 


The  Real  Bismarck.  37 

upon  a  special  mission  to  the  Emperor,  Francis  Joseph,  d 
propos  of  the  Zoll-Verein.  And  this  truly  extraordinary 
mission  took  the  young  diplomat  across  Hungary,  in  which 
country  the  Emperor  was  travelling,  and  to  whom  Bismarck 
was  to  deliver  an  autograph  letter  from  Frederic  William. 
He  overtook  Francis  Joseph  at  Pesth  and  attended  the  fetes 
and  the  hunts  with  the  Court,  which  he  described  most 
picturesquely,  even  lyrically,  to  his  wife. 

Some  of  his  letters  during  the  period  are  fifteen  pages 
long  and  elaborate  epistolary  efforts,  consequently  it  is  im- 
possible to  quote  them  in  their  entirety.  Extracts  from 
them  will  be  given  of  sufficient  length  to  enable  the  reader 
to  appreciate  the  descriptive  style.  Here  is  the  first  letter, 
dated  from  Szolnok,  June  27,  1852. 

In  the  atlas  which  you  have  at  hand  you  will  find  the 
map  of  Hungary.  Upon  that  map  you  will  see  a  river  called 
the  Theiss,  and  by  following  it  to  its  source,  passing  Szegedin 
you  will  arrive  at  a  locality  called  Szolnok.  Yesterday  I 
went  by  train  from  Pesth  to  Alberti-Josa,  where  lives  a 

Prince  W who  has  been  married  to  a  Princess  von 

M ;  I  went  to  pay  my  respects  to  her  that  I  might  give 

news  of  her  health.     This  place  is  situated  upon  the 

edge  of  the  Hungarian  steppes  which  stretch  between 
the  Danube  and  the  Theiss,  and  I  visited  it  by  pure  caprice. 
I  have  not  been  permitted  to  venture  without  an  escort,  as 
the  region  is  infested  with  mounted  brigands  called  Bety- 
ares,  who  render  the  country  dangerous  to  cross.  After  a 
comfortable  breakfast  in  the  shade  of  an  elm  I  mounted 
a  board  wagon  with  bundles  of  straw  for  seats,  and  drawn 
by  three  moorland  ponies;  the  Uhlans  charged  their  car- 
bines, mounted  the  ponies  and  we  set  off  at  a  gallop.  Upon 
the  front  seat  were  Hildebrand,  a  Hungarian  domestic  and 
the  driver;  this  last  a  peasant  with  long,  dark-brown  hair 
and  moustache,  a  broad-brimmed  hat  and  a  shirt  which 
reached  only  to  the  stomach,  leaving  between  it  and  the 
trousers  a  broad  band  of  bare  brown  flesh.  The  trousers 
were  white  and  full  as  a  woman's  petticoat,  and  came  no 


38  The  Real  Bismarck. 

lower  than  the  knee;  the  lower  part  of  the  leg  and  the  foot 
were  protected  by  spurred  boots.  Picture  to  yourself  a 
green  plateau,  level  as  a  table,  upon  which,  at  intervals 
of  several  miles,  nothing  is  to  be  seen  against  the  horizon 
except  the  great  naked  shafts  of  the  well-sweeps;  wells 
having  been  dug  that  water  might  be  drawn  for  the  half- 
wild  ponies  and  for  the  cattle — thousands  of  brown  and 
white  cattle,  wild  as  game,  and  with  horns  as  long  as  my 
arm,  and  herds  of  stunted  ponies,  with  coats  of  long  hair, 
watched  by  half-naked  shepherds  armed  with  sticks  like 
lances ; — immense  numbers  of  pigs,  each  lot  accompanied  by 
an  ass,  the  mission  of  which  is  to  carry  the  shepherd's  coat 
and,  incidentally,  the  shepherd  himself;  then  vast  flocks  of 
bustards  and  innumerable  hares  and  hamsters;  and  again, 
here  and  there  beside  a  lake  of  impure  water,  wild  geese, 
ducks  and  plovers. 

******* 

I  arrived  here  about  five  o'clock;  that  is,  at  the  hour 
when  a  motley  crowd  of  Hungarians  and  others  were 
circulating  in  the  streets  of  Szolnok.  From  my  lodg- 
ing I  could  hear  the  wildest  and  most  senseless  Bohemian 
melodies.  These  people  sing  in  a  nasal  tone,  with  mouth 
wide  open,  and  in  a  minor  key,  plaintive  songs,  descrip- 
tive of  the  torments  caused  by  certain  black  eyes,  or  of  the 
death  of  some  illustrious  brigand.  One  would  swear  one 
heard  the  wind  roaring  down  the  chimney.  The  women  are 
generally  good-looking,  some  of  them  even  remarkably 
beautiful.  All  have  jet-black  hair  arranged  with  scarlet  rib- 
bons. Married  women  wear  on  their  heads  green  and  red 
fichus,  or  coifs  of  gold-embroidered  red  velvet,  and  across 
the  shoulders  and  breast  silk  shawls  of  a  beautiful  shade  of 
yellow.  Besides,  they  wear  short  sky-blue  skirts  and  boots 
of  red  morocco  which  reach  to  the  hem;  these  accessories, 
with  their  swarthy  brown  skins  and  black  eyes,  form  a  pictu- 
resque assemblage  of  striking  colours  which  you  would,  I  am 
sure,  find  admirable.  A  few  minutes  after  my  arrival,  while 
awaiting  dinner,  I  took  a  plunge  in  the  Theiss  and  watched 
some  native  dances.  What  a  pity  that  I  do  not  know  how  to 
draw!  I  should  for  your  benefit  execute  some  fabulous 
sketches.  I  have  eaten  some  fish — and  other  things,  and 


Bismarck,  when  Delegate  to  the  Federal  Diet. 


The  Real  Bismarck.  41 

drunk  a  good  deal  of  Hungarian  wine,  and  now  I  want  to  go 
to  bed,  provided  the  Bohemian  music  will  let  me  sleep  a 
little.  Good-night.  I  stem  adiamek! 

BISMAKCK. 

As  a  contrast  to  this  picture,  almost  Oriental,  here  is  a 
Northern  landscape,  sketched  by  a  master-hand,  while  Herr 
von  Bismarck  was  on  a  mission  to  Sweden  in  1857. 

This  quotation  anticipates  the  chronological  order 
adopted  by  us,  but  the  example  will  serve  to  further  demon- 
strate the  variety  and  suppleness  of  Bismarck's  epistolary 
style.  These  letters  reveal  the  humorist,  the  being  all  intui- 
tions and  impressions,  to  whom  the  heart  of  things  appeals 
rather  than  their  externality;  their  more  intimate  character 
more  often  than  their  general  aspect;  and  who  assimilates 
more  readily  the  people  with  whom,  and  the  things  with 
which,  he  comes  in  actual  contact.  As  a  matter  of  fact  his 
descriptions  take  the  form,  nearly  always,  of  a  suggested 
imagery,  which  energizes  inanimate  objects.  From  Amster- 
dam he  wrote  in  1853 :  "  The  chimneys  look  like  men  stand- 
ing on  their  heads,  with  legs  and  arms  spread  far  apart."  An- 
other time,  alluding  to  a  Swiss  landscape,  our  epicure  com- 
pared it  to  "  a  dish  of  cabbage  garnished  with  eggs." 

Tromsjoenaes,  August  16. 

Not  a  town,  not  a  village  as  far  as  the  eye  can  reach; 
only  a  few  isolated  frame  huts  with  a  little  barley  and  a  few 
potatoes  about  them,  lost  among  stunted  trees,  rocks  and 
weeds.  Recall  the  most  deserted  bit  of  land  in  the  vicinity 
of  Viartlum  [estate  in  Pomerania  belonging  to  the  Putt- 
kammers]  ;  nearly  a  hundred  square  miles  of  tall  heather^  al- 
ternating with  vines  running  along  the  ground  and  with 
marsh-land,  with  birch,  juniper,  fir,  beech,  oak  and  alder, 
sometimes  thick-clustered,  elsewhere  scattered  sparsely;  the 
whole  thickly  sown  with  bowlders,  some  of  them  as  large  as 
a  house  and  exhaling  a  fragrance  of  resin  and  rosemary; 
with  curiously  shaped  lakes  here  and  there,  fringed  with 


42  The  Real  Bismarck. 

foresFs  and  hills  of  heather;  thus  you  will  have  an  idea  of 
Smaland,  where  I  am  at  this  moment.  It  is  in  very  truth 
the  country  of  my  dreams;  inaccessible  to  despatches,  to 

my  colleagues  and  to  N.  N (and,  unhappily,  to  you). 

I  should  like  to  possess,  beside  one  of  these  tranquil  lakes, 
a  hunting  lodge  where  I  might  gather  for  a  few  months  all 
my  dear  ones  at  present  united  at  Rheinfeld.  The  winters 
here  are  insupportable  because  of  the  mud.  *  *  *  We 
have  been  dining  at  the  hunting-lodge,  a  curious  frame 
structure  situated  upon  a  peninsula  extending  into  the  lake. 
My  chamber  and  the  three  chairs,  two  tables  and  bed  are 
all  of  the  colour  of  the  rough  pine  of  which  all  the  walls  in 
the  house  are  composed.  The  bed  is  very  hard,  yet  after  so 
much  fatigue  one  can  sleep  without  being  rocked.  I  see 
from  my  window  a  hill  clothed  with  flowering  heather  from 
among  which  spring  saplings  which  sway  in  the  wind;  be- 
tween them  I  catch  glimpses  of  the  lake,  and  beyond  the 
lake  extends  a  forest  of  firs.  Beside  the  house  is  a  tent  for 
the  coachmen  and  other  domestics,  and  the  peasants;  then 
come  the  coach-house  and  a  small  canine  city  composed  of 
eighteen  or  twenty  dog-houses  which  form  a  street  or  alley; 
and  from  each  kennel  hangs  the  head  of  a  dog  tired  out  with 
yesterday's  hunting. 

Returned  to  Frankfort,  the  humorist  was  bored  to  death 
with  listening  to  reports  of  the  Diet,  "  immeasurably  fastid- 
ious "  ;  yet  he  wrote  his  sister  that  the  greater  part  of  his 
leisure  was  spent  in  the  chase.  Politics  leaving  him  with 
much  time  on  his  hands  during  most  of  the  year  1853,  he 
imagined  himself  in  need  of  rest  and  took  his  repose  in  the 
shape  of  travel,  becoming  an  enthusiastic  tourist.  Having 
obtained  leave  of  absence  he  consumed  the  summer  and 
autumn  in  visiting  Belgium,  Holland,  Westphalia,  Italy  and 
Switzerland. 

During  the  years  which  followed  his  influence  and  polit- 
ical authority  steadily  increased;  he  was  selected  for  many 
foreign  negotiations  and  it  is  entertaining  to  follow,  through 
his  unofficial  correspondence,  the  infinitely  varied  and 


The  Real  Bismarck.  43 

grotesque  pictures  by  which  he  described  the  progressive 
steps  in  his  new  career  of  commercial  traveller  in  diplomacy. 
In  principle  he  deplored  his  nomadic  existence,  which  he 
called  "  vagabondage  "  ;  but  as  a  matter  of  fact  it  enchanted 
him.  When  he  wrote  to  his  wife  that  he  should  have  pre- 
ferred to  remain  in  the  Chamber  of  Lords,  where,  unimpeded 
by  any  official  hinderance  he  .could  "  direct  politics  in  his 
bathing  clothes  " — "  an  occupation,"  he  added,  "  which  has 
always  had  as  great  a  charm  for  me  as  a  continuous  diet  of 
truffles,  dispatches  and  Grand  Crosses,  such  as  diplomacy 
offers,"  one  may  be  sure  that  he  meant  not  a  word  of  it;  for 
in  reality  his  dreams  were  all  of  embassies  and  special  mis- 
sions, and  the  two  poles  of  the  magnet  were  for  the  moment 
Saint  Petersburg  and  Paris;  the  capitals  of  the  two  great 
nations  with  which  he  foresaw  the  possibility  of  a  definitive 
alliance  fifty  years  thence,  in  spite  of  the  Crimean  war,  ter- 
minated by  the  taking  of  Sevastopol;  in  spite  of  the  catastro- 
phes into  which  his  hatred  of  all  that  was  Gallic  soon  pre- 
cipitated France  and  her  saddened  Emperor.  Saint  Peters- 
burg whence,  in  1858,  he  writes  to  his  wife:  "  I  should  not 
be  sorry  to  take  refuge  in  a  big  bearskin  great-coat,  with 
caviare  and  an  occasional  stag-hunt,  against  the  inclement 
political  weather  which  will  soon  overtake  Frankfort." 
He  visited  Paris  during  the  Exposition  of  1855;  a  semi- 
official visit  by  which  he  profited  to  begin  throwing  dust  in 
the  eyes  of  Napoleon  III. 

*  In  March,  1859,  the  first  of  his  dreams  was  realized.  The 
Prince  Royal  of  Prussia,  who  had  acted  as  Regent  for  a  year, 
sent  him  as  Ambassador  to  thf  ("Vvnrt  nf  Russia.  He  posted 
to  Saint  Petersburg,  a  method  of  conveyance  which  would 
hardly  justify  its  being  called  a  pleasure  trip,  and  of  which 
the  humorist  relates  the  Odyssey  in  his  usual  happy  vein. 

Russia  seemed  to  lengthen  under  our  wheels,  the  z'ersts 
to  bear  little  ones  at  each  station;  but  here  we  are  at  last  at 


44  The  Real  Bismarck. 

our  railway  port.  From  Konigsberg  to  Pskow  we  travelled 
for  ninety-six  hours  without  stopping;  sleeping  only  four 
hours  at  Kowno  and  three  at  the  station  of  Degucie,  near 
Dunabourg.  I  think  that  was  the  day  before  yesterday.  I 
am  now  perfectly  comfortable  except  that  my  skin  burns 
from  exposure  to  the  air  all  night,  when  the  cold  varied 
from  one  to  twelve  degrees.  The  snow  was  so  heavy  that 
we  stuck  in  it  in  spite  of  the  efforts  of  our  six  or  eight  horses, 
and  we  were  frequently  forced  to  continue  the  journey  on 
foot.  The  slippery  bridges  in  the  mountains  were  still  more 
disagreeable,  particularly  coming  down;  it  took  us  an  hour 
to  make  twenty  steps,  for  the  horses  fell  four  times  and 
eight  times  became  entangled  in  the  harness.  With  all  this 
it  was  night  and  the  wind  was  high — a  veritable  winter  jour- 
ney through  nature.  It  was  not  possible  to  sleep  sitting  up, 
if  only  because  of  the  cold;  but  one  is  better  off  in  the  open 
air  and  I  shall  make  up  the  sleep  lost. 

Yet  the  foregoing  was  but  the  beginning.  As  he  went  on 
toward  Saint  Petersburg  the  snow  fell  and  the  trip  exhausted 
itself  in  indescribable  vicissitudes. 

At  Wirraballan  I  found  a  post-chaise  which  on  the  in- 
terior was  too  low  for  my  height;  I  therefore  changed 
places  with  Angel  and  completed  the  distance  on  the  outside 
seat,  which  was  open  in  front,  a  narrow  bench  of  which 
the  back  bristled  with  pointed  angles,  making  it,  apart  from 
the  cold,  impossible  to  sleep.  I  supported  these  conditions 
from  Friday  morning  until  Monday  evening,  and  without 
counting  the  first  and  last  nights  in  the  train  I  did  not  sleep 
from  Wednesday  morning  until  Tuesday  evening,  except 
once  for  three  hours  and  another  time  two  hours  upon  a 
sofa  at  one  of  the  relay-stations.  The  skin  was  peeling  from 
my  face  when  I  arrived.  The  journey  occupied  a  longer 
time  because  of  the  fresh-fallen  snow,  through  which  there 
was  no  track  cut  for  the  sleighs.  We  were  obliged  fre- 
quently to  trudge  along  on  foot  when  our  eight  horses 
could  not  pull  us.  The  Duna  was  frozen,  but  a  half-mile 
above  there  was  a  place  free  from  ice,  where  we  crossed. 
The  Wilna  was  swollen  with  ice-cakes ;  theNiemen  had  none. 


The  Real  Bismarck.  45 

Occasionally  the  supply  of  horses  was  exhausted  because  at 
each  post  we  were  obliged  to  take  eight  or  ten  instead  of 
only  three  or  four,  as  usual;  I  never  had  less  than  six,  yet 
the  carriage  was  not  very  heavy.  The  zeal  of  the  guard,  the 
driver  and  the  postilion  was  so  excessive  that  I  was  forced 
to  curb  it  in  order  to  save  their  poor  beasts  unnecessary 
torture.  The  icy  bridges  in  the  mountains  were  the  prin- 
cipal drawbacks  to  our  progress,  particularly  in  descending 
them;  the  four  hindmost  horses  occasionally  fell  one  upon 
another,  a  confused,  struggling  mass;  but  the  postilion,  who 
was  mounted  upon  one  of  the  horses  forward  on  the  right, 
never  fell,  and  the  moment  the  others  were  on  their  feet  again 
he  started  them  on  a  run,  the  carriage,  loaded  atop  with  a 
quantity  of  luggage,  swaying  after  as  rapidly  as  the  wheels 
could  turn;  the  whole  accompanied  by  shouts  and  much 
cracking  of  whips.  This  manner  of  driving  is  undoubtedly 
the  wiser  for  the  horses  fall  only  when  going  slowly. 


April  ist.  As  I  write  this  date  I  am  reminded  that  it  is 
the  anniversary  of  my  birth.  It  is  the  first  time  that  I  have 
ever  heard  the  ice  crack  upon  this  day;  and  it  is  the  first 
time  in  twelve  years  that  I  have  spent  it  away  from  Johanna." 

Thus  the  new  Prussian  Ambassador  was  established  at 
Saint  Petersburg  with  his  wife,  children,  horses,  dogs  and 
a  whole  menagerie  besides,  reinforced  by  some  superb  bears 
which  he  afterward  carried  back  to  Germany.  Despite  the 
insufficiency  of  his  salary  (thirty  thousand  thalers — twenty 
thousand  dollars)  his  house  was  most  hospitably  maintained, 
the  Ambassadress  winning  all  hearts  by  her  gracious  in- 
formality of  manner;  for  one  did  not  dine  there  unless  he 
was  satisfied  to  accept  "  pot-luck." 

Such,  at  least,  is  the  German  version.  Other  writers  have 
asserted  that  the  diplomatist  was  successful  at  Court,  but  that 
his  personality  did  not  favorably  impress  the  higher  cir- 
cles of  Saint  Petersburg  society.  His  unyielding  character, 
his  brusque,  sometimes  violent  humour,  was  disapproved 


46  The  Real  Bismarck. 

and  resented.    Witness  the  following  anecdote,  given  in  an 
English  journal: 

While  he  was  ambassador  at  Saint  Petersburg  he,  one 
evening  in  the  salon  of  the  Princess  Bariatinsky,  permitted 


Bismarck's  Children,  Herbert,  Wilhelm,  and  Marie  (1854). 

himself  to  give  expression  to  his  customary  facetious  reflec- 
tions upon  various  political  personages  who  chanced  to  be 
absent,  turning  against  them  the  most  biting  epigrams;  his 
hostile  attitude  perceptibly  chilled  the  social  atmosphere. 
As  his  Excellency  left  the  house  a  dog  in  the  court-yard 


The  Real  Bismarck.  47 

began  to  bark  furiously.  Prince  Bariatinsky  could  not  resist 
the  pleasure  of  retaliating  upon  the  guest  who  had  been  so 
ill-humoured  all  the  evening,  by  opening  the  window  and 
exclaiming,  apprehensively : 

"  Monsieur  Vambassadeur,  do  not  bite  my  dog,  I  beg  of 
you!" 

A  journey  which  the  new  ambassador  made  to  Moscow 
early  in  June  was  not  less  interesting  than  that  to  Saint 
Petersburg,  and  is  described  with  unimaginable  picturesque- 
ness. 

Green  is  quite  deservedly  the  favorite  colour  of  the  Rus- 
sians. Of  the  hundred  miles  which  I  traversed  to  reach 
this  place  I  passed  about  forty  asleep;  but  the  sixty  remain- 
ing presented  in  every  direction  a  succession  of  shades  of 
green.  Except  the  railway  stations  I  saw  neither  houses  nor 
villages,  nor  yet  towns.  Forests  of  birch,  forming  an  im- 
penetrable thicket,  cover  the  marshes  and  hills.  A  mag- 
nificent plant  springs  at  the  foot  of  the  trees,  which  are  oc- 
casionally separated  by  long  stretches  of  prairie;  and  this 
appearance  continues  through  ten,  twenty,  forty  miles.  I 
do  not  recall  having  seen  any  fields  or  heather  or  sand. 
Cows  or  horses  passing,  solitary,  now  and  then,  led  one  to 
suppose  that  there  might  be  men  in  the  neighborhood. 
Moscow  seen  from  above  looks  somewhat  like  a  recently 
sown  field.  The  soldiers  are  green,  the  cupolas  are  green, 
and  I  doubt  not  the  hens  are  green  that  have  laid  the  eggs 
upon  my  table.  You  would  probably  like  to  know  why  I  am 
here;  I  have  asked  myself  the  same  question,  replying  that 
change  is  the  soul  of  living.  The  truth  of  this  profound 
maxim  is  the  more  readily  recognized  when  one  has  been 
spending  ten  weeks  in  a  hotel  chamber  exposed  to  the  sun 
and  looking  out  upon  the  paved  street.  The  delights  of 
changing  one's  domicile  pall  when  such  changes  occur  fre- 
quently in  a  short  time ;  I,  therefore,  determined  to  renounce 

them.     I  confided  all  my  papers  to ;    I  gave  my  keys 

to  Angel;  I  announced  that  in  eight  days  I  should  be  at  the 
Stenbock's,  and  I  set  out  for  the  station  to  go  to  Moscow. 
This  people  has  the  habit  of  harnessing  slowly  and  driving 


48  The  Real  Bismarck. 

rapidly.  I  ordered  the  carriage  two  hours  ago  and  each 
time  that  I  have  asked  for  it  at  intervals  of  ten  minutes  for 
the  last  hour  and  a  half  the  answer  has  been:  "  Directly! " 
with  amiable  imperturbability;  you  know  with  what  exem- 
plary patience  I  can  wait — but  there  is  a  limit  to  everything. 
And,  once  started,  the  horses  travel  such  a  pace  that  they 
break  down,  the  carriage  goes  to  pieces  upon  the  rough 
roads  and  the  journey  has  to  be  concluded  on  foot.  While 
waiting  I  have  drank  three  cups  of  tea  and  eaten  several 
•eggs.  The  efforts  of  the  domestic  to  make  the  fire  burn  are 
succeeding  so  well  that  I  am  beginning  to  feel  the  necessity 
ior  some  fresh  air.  I  should  shave  myself  if  I  had  a  mirror. 

Upon  his  return  to  Saint  Petersburg  he  surveyed  his  posi- 
tion with  satisfaction.  His  work  was  nice  rather  than  diffi- 
cult. There  were  forty  thousand  Prussians  to  whom  he  was 
expected  to  serve  as  detective,  advocate,  judge,  captain  of 
recruits  and  sub-prefect.  Every  day  brought  some  fifty 
signatures  to  make,  passports  to  despatch  and  visits  to  pay; 
all  which  in  no  wise  hindered  the  course  of  diplomacy.  Bis- 
marck followed  with  unquiet  eye  the  digressions  of  Prussian 
politics  which,  he  said,  was  sinking  more  and  more  deeply 
into  the  Austrian  furrow.  Even  then  he  predicted  the  Fran- 
co-Prussian war,  in  which  Austria  would  or  would  not  lend 
her  aid,  according  to  the  dictates  of  self-interest. 

As  God  wills,  he  concludes.  Here  it  is  but  a  question 
of  time;  peoples  and  individuals,  folly  and  wisdom,  war  and 
peace,  all  are  unstable  as  the  waves:  the  sea  rests.  There 
is  nothing  on  earth  but  hypocrisy  and  jugglery.  Whether 
fever  or  rifle  ball  tear  the  mask  from  one's  face  it  must  fall 
soon  or  later.  Then  will  there  be  discovered  between  a 
Prussian  and  an  Austrian,  if  they  are  of  equal  height,  a  re- 
semblance which  will  make  it  difficult  to  distinguish  one 
from  the  other.  For  the  matter  of  that,  imbeciles  and  wise 
men,  reduced  to  skeletons,  are  alike  as  two  drops  of  water. 
It  is  certain  that  specific  patriotism  will  not  stand  the  test; 
but  one  must  despair  were  we  reduced  to  that  precarious 
dependence. 


The  Real  Bismarck.  49 

This  extract  is  bitterly  pessimistic,  for  the  hi 


whom  we  have  seen  happy  up  to  this  moment,  be  touched 
by  sorrow,  and  his  pen  becomes  veritably  pathetic;  he 
writes  the  most  beautiful  letters  which  the  tender  compas- 
sion of  a  heart  like  his  can  inspire.  Such  is  the  letter  which 
he  addressed  to  his  brother-in-law,  the  husband  of  his  sister 
Malvina,  upon  learning  of  the  death  of  one  of  their  children 
(August,  1861). 

I  have  just  heard  of  the  frightful  misfortune  which  has 
overtaken  you  and  Malvina.  My  first  thought  was  to  go  to 
you  at  once,  but  I  overestimated  my  strength.  The  cure  has 
weakened  me,  and  my  decision  to  interrupt  it  suddenly  has 
encountered  such  energetic  opposition  that  I  have  con- 
cluded to  let  Johanna  go  to  you  alone.  No  human  consola- 
tion can  touch  such  a  grief,  yet  there  is  a  natural  desire  to 
be  near  those  one  loves,  when  they  are  suffering,  and  to 
mingle  one's  tears  with  theirs.  That  is  all  we  can  do.  You 
could  hardly  have  a  greater  sorrow;  so  to  lose  so  lovable  a 
child  who  was  progressing  promisingly,  and  to  bury  with 
him  all  the  hopes  which,  realized,  should  have  been  the  joy 
of  your  declining  years,  is  a  chagrin  which  will  be  yours  so 
long  as  you  are  on  earth ;  I  feel  it  by  the  profound  and  sor- 
rowful compassion  with  which  your  trouble  inspires  me. 
We  are  in  God's  hands  and  can  but  bow  to  his  will.  He  may 
take  back  all  that  he  has  given  us,  leave  us  entirely  alone, 
and  the  affliction  will  seem  but  the  more  cruel  if  we  permit 
our  woe  to  degenerate  into  reproaches  and  revolt  against  his 
omnipotence.  Do  not  allow  upon  your  legitimate  grief  the 
intrusion  of  one  bitter  thought,  one  rebellious  murmur;  re- 
member that  there  still  remains  to  you  a  son  and  a  daughter 
and  that  with  them  you  may  be  happy  even  while  tenderly 
recalling  the  beloved  child  whom  you  kept  with  you  for 
fifteen  years;  compare  your  lot  with  those  who  have  never 
had  children,  never  known  the  joys  of  paternity.  I  would 
not  importune  you  with  my  feeble  consolation,  but  assure 
you  only  that  as  your  friend  and  brother  I  feel  your  grief  as 
profoundly  as  though  it  were  my  own.  How  trivial  seem  the 


50  The  Real  Bismarck. 

little  cares  and  disagreements  of  our  daily  life  beside  a  real 
misfortune;  and  how  frequently  I  reproach  myself  for  the 
complaints  and  desires  to  which  I  have  so  often  given  ex- 
pression because  I  was  forgetful  of  all  the  happiness  God 
gives  us  and  all  the  dangers  which  surround  without  touch- 
ing us !  We  should  not  become  enamoured  of  this  life  and 
imagine  ourselves  at  home;  in  twenty  years  or  thirty,  at  most, 
we  shall  be  quit  of  the  cares  of  this  world,  and  our  children, 
having  reached  our  present  age,  will  realize  with  amazement 
that  their  life,  still  so  novel  and  delightful,  is  already  declin- 
ing. Were  this  life  indeed  the  end  it  would  not  be  worth  the 
trouble  of  dressing  and  undressing.  Do  you  recollect  those 
words  of  a  travelling  companion  of  Stolpemunde?  By  think- 
ing of  death  as  the  passage  into  another  life  you  will  more 
easily  master  your  grief,  for  you  will  say  to  yourself  that 
your  dear  child  will  be  your  faithful  companion  as  long  as 
you  live.  Our  circle  of  loved  ones  diminishes,  rather  than 
enlarges,  when  there  are  no  children.  At  our  age  one  does 
not  contract  ties  capable  of  replacing  those  that  are  broken. 
Let  us  then  be  still  more  closely  united  until  death  shall 
separate  us  one  from  the  other  as  it  has  separated  us  from 
your  son.  Who  knows  that  it  may  not  be  soon? 

That  point  of  interrogation  proves  for  the  second  time 
that  the  only  event  which  Bismarck's  spirit  of  divination 
failed  to  foresee  was  his  own  longevity. 

Nevertheless  the  climate  was  unfavourable  to  the  health 
of  the  Prussian  Ambassador.  He  fell  seriously  sick  and  did 
not  entirely  recover.  With  the  mania  for  self-mockery 
which  had  become  characteristic,  Bismarck  relates,  a  propos 
Q^  {his^  sicjmess,  that  someone  gravelv.  called  his  attention 
to  the  jact  that  all  therepresentatives  from  Prussia  to  Rus- 
SJaJjaxTeitner  died  br~gone  mad.  Yet,  while  deploring  his 
nomadic  existence  and  asserting  that  change  of  residence 
is  half  death,  he  began  to  sigh  for  a  post  at  London,  Paris  or 
Berlin.  He  even  wrote  his  sister  that  he  would  drink  a  bot- 
tle of  fine  wine  on  the  day  when  he  should  have  in  his  pocket 
his  appointment  to  Paris.  And  as  everything  succeeds  witb 
him,  he  obtained  it  in  May,  1862. 


V. 

Bismarck  at  Paris  in  1862 — Hotel  o£  the  Legation — Criticism  of  the 
Appearance  of  the  Emperor  and  Empress — Fresh  Access  of 
Spleen,  Bismarck  Feels  Lonely  in  Paris — Promenades  in  the 
Bois  and  at  Saint- Germain — A  Mot  of  Guizot- Album  Senti- 
ment— Bismarck  Recalled  to  Berlin  and  Made  President  of  the 
Council — Epicureanism,  Hunting,  and  Overwork — A  Price  Set 
Upon  Prince  Bismarck's  Head — The  Attempt  of  the  Student 
Blind — Bismarck  is  Photographed  With  a  Singer — His  Re- 
morse— Sadowa — The  Stroke  of  the  Spur — Triumph  of  the 
Bismarckian  Policy — Napoleon  III.  Declares  War  Against 
Prussia. 

During  a  brief  stay  in  Paris  in  1857,  Bismarck,  stopping 
at  the  Hotel  de  Douvres,  wrote  his  sister: 

I  have  five  chimneys,  yet  I  am  freezing;  five  clocks,  all 
ticking,  yet  I  never  know  the  hour;  eleven  large  mirrors, 
yet  my  cravat  is  always  ill-tied. 

The  Prussian  ambassador  seemed  little  better  satisfied 
with  his  installation  in  1862.  The  hotel  of  the  Legation  is 
well-located,  but  gloomy,  damp  and  cold,  as  he  says  in  a 
letter  addressed  to  his  wife. 

The  south  side  is  occupied  by  the  staircase  and  the  non- 
valeurs;  all  is  exposed  on  the  north  and  is  haunted  by  an 
odour  of  mustiness  and  sewage.  There  is  no  furniture,  no 
corner  where  it  is  a  pleasure  to  sit  down ;  three-quarters  of 
the  house,  consisting  of  salons,  is  closed,  and  the  furniture 
swathed  in  covers  which  are  not  expected  to  be  disturbed. 
The  maids  occupy  the  third  floor,  the  children  the  second; 
the  first  consists  only  of  a  bed-room  in  which  is  a  great  bed, 
a  few  out-of-date  parlours  (style  of  i8i8)and  numerous  stair- 
Si 


52  The  Real  Bismarck. 

cases  and  antechambers.  One  lives  in  the  rez-de-chaussee, 
north  side,  near  the  garden,  where  I  sun  myself  at  most 
three  times  a  week,  for  several  hours.  Besides,  on  the  main 
floor,  there  is  but  one  bed-chamber.  All  the  domestic  affairs 
are  transacted  on  the  second  floor,  which  is  reached  by 
a  dark,  narrow,  steep  staircase,  up  which  my  broad  shoulders 
will  not  admit  of  my  walking  straight  (even  although  I  wear 
no  crinoline).  The  principal  staircase  extends  only  to  the 
first  floor.  Two  others,  one  at  either  end  of  the  house, 
straight  and  narrow  as  ladders,  lead  to  the  upper  stories. 
Here  Hatzfeld  and  Pourtales  lived  all  the  time,  but  they 
died  in  the  very  flower  of  their  age;  and  if  I  remain  in  this 
house  I  shall  die  too.  I  should  not  lodge  here  even  if  I 
might  do  so  for  nothing,  if  only  because  of  the  ill  odour. 

When  the  new  Ambassador  presented  his  credentials  he 
was,  as  always,  most  amiably  received  by  the  Emperor,  al- 
though it  was  an  official  ceremony  to  which  his  Excellency 
was  brought  in  the  usual  state,  in  a  Court  carriage. 

Bismarck  found  the  Emperor  looking  well;  he  had  be- 
come stronger,  but  was  neither  fatter  nor  coarser,  as  all  the 
caricatures  paint  him.  The  Empress,  Bismarck  still  thought 
one  of  the  most  beautiful  women  he  knew,  even  after  Saint 
Petersburg. 

Meanwhile  his  Excellency  was  bored  to  death,  and  for  the 
first  time  in  many  years  was  not  sufficiently  occupied ;  in  the 
rare  letters  which  he  wrote  he  was  rather  morose;  com- 
plained of  the  rain,  of  being  obliged  to  dine  alone,  of  not 
knowing  whom  to  visit. 

Although  I  am  in  the  midst  of  great  Paris,  I  feel  more 
alone  than  do  you  at  Rhinefeld,  and  I  am  hidden  like  a  rat 
in  this  deserted  house.  The  only  pleasure  I  have  had  has 
been  the  discharge  of  the  cook  because  of  the  extravagance 
of  her  accounts — and  you  know  my  indulgence  in  that  par- 
ticular. I  sometimes  eat  at  the  cafe;  God  knows  how  long 
that  will  last.  In  eight  or  ten  days  I  shall  probably  be  sum- 


Jeanne  de  Puttkamer,  Wife  of  the  Chancellor. 


The  Real  Bismarck.  55 

moned  by  despatch  to  Berlin  and  things  will  become  se- 
rious. 

In  short,  Bismarck's  moral  barometer,  which  was  always 
influenced  by  atmospheric  variations,  was  "  set  stormy." 
He  wrote  July  I4th,  after  a  trip  to  London  which  made  him 
better  appreciate  Paris : 

We  have  had  fine  weather  since  yesterday;  until  then 
the  cold  was  intense  and  the  rain  incessant.  I  profited  by  the 
change  to  dine  at  Saint  Germain;  it  is  in  the  midst  of  a 
beautiful  forest,  with  a  terrace  overlooking  the  Seine,  from 
which  is  had  a  magnificent  view  of  woodland,  mountains, 
towns  and  villages.  Every  place  is  buried  in  verdure;  I 
have  just  been  driving  in  the  Bois  by  the  softest  moonlight; 
thousands  of  carriages  were  there;  the  lakes  were  covered 
with  coloured  lights  and  there  was  an  open-air  concert. 
Now  I  am  going  to  bed. 

Bismarck  remained  in  Paris  just  long  enough  to  permit 
Napoleon  III.  to  pronounce  the  most  profound  words  to 
which  he  ever  gave  utterance:  of  Bismarck  he  said:  "  He  is 
not  a  serious  man."  Would  it  had  pleased  God  that  the  man 
of  the  Second  of  December  had  treated  the  Prussian  Di- 
plomatist with  more  consequence  instead  of  as  he  did — a 
policy  which  Bismarck  designated  as  "  politique  de  pour- 
boire." 

M.  Guizot,  however,  was  not  at  all  of  the  Emperor's  opin- 
ion; we  find  in  an  article  in  the  "  Revue  des  Deux  Mondes  " 
(1866)  these  words,  equally  profound: 

"  At  this  hour  there  is  but  one  ambitious  and  daring  man 
in  Europe,  and  that  man  is  Bismarck." 

Which  proves  once  more  that  when  reference  is  made  to  a 
man  so  many-sided  in  character,  the  most  divergent  opin- 
ions, the  most  contradictory  judgments  may  be  reconciled. 
And  since  we  are  upon  sentences  and  aphorisms  let  us  men- 


56  The  Real  Bismarck. 

tion  an  album  of  thoughts  signed  by  the  Prussian  Ambas- 
sador while  in  Paris.  His  colleague,  Count  Inzenberg, 
charge  d'affaires  of  Hesse,  and  a  great  collector  of  auto- 
graphs, possessed  an  album  wherein  the  political  person- 
ages of  the  day  were  invited  to  inscribe  a  few  original  lines. 
Anecdotal  history  has  detached  from  this  album  a  page 
upon  which  is  to  be  found  the  three  "  thoughts  "  which  fol- 
low, written  one  under  the  other. 

"  During  my  long  career  I  have  learned  to  pardon  much 
and  often,  but  I  have  forgotten  nothing.  GUIZOT." 

"  A  little  lack  of  memory  cannot  detract  from  the  sin- 
cerity of  the  pardon.  THIERS." 

"  As  for  me,  existence  has  taught  me  to  forget  many 
things  and  to  pardon  many  more.  VON  BISMARCK." 

Four  months  after  his  arrival  in  Paris  Bismarck  was  re- 
called to  Berlin,  where  the  evil  times  which  he  had  predicted 
had  arrived.  The  Prince  of  Prussia,  having  become  King, 
was  at  odds  with  his  Assembly  upon  the  subject  of  military 
reorganization.  The  Cabinet  had  resigned  and  it  was  then 
that  the  King  called  to  his  assistance  the  man  who  was 
more  royalist  than  himself;  the  implacable  foe  to  all  parlia- 
mentary liberty;  the  iron  arm  which  was  to  overcome  the 
Chamber,  the  country,  Germany  entire  by  the  might  "  which 
precedes  right,"  and  who,  even  before  his  departure  for 
Russia,  spoke  of  curing  the  infirmities  of  the  Confederation 
by  iron  and  fire  ("  ferro  et  igne  "). 

Herr  von  Bismarck  was  made  President  of  the  Cabinet, 
and  from  that  time  his  political  star  began  to  shine  with  ex- 
traordinary lustre,  little  reassuring,  however,  for  the  peace 
of  Federal  Germany. 

The  new  President-Minister  established  himself  very  com- 


The  Real  Bismarck.  57 

fortably  at  Berlin,  happy  to  know  himself  at  last  in  his 
proper  element;  proud  also  to  plant  himself  at  the  feet  of  his 
royal  master.  Foreseeing  that  he  should  be  overdriven,  like 
a  true  apostle  of  the  "  mens  sana  in  corpore  sano,"  he 
thought  only  of  living  well,  and  gave  a  loose  rein  to  his  epi- 
curean tastes.  On  October  loth,  or  about  three  weeks  after 
bis  arrival  in  Berlin,  he  wrote  to  his  sister: 

I  have  never  eaten  such  excellent  pudding  and  rarely 
liver  so  good.  Blessed  be  culinary  masterpieces!  I  have 
breakfasted  upon  them  now  three  days.  Cook  Rimpe  has 
come  and  I  eat  alone  at  home,  when  I  do  not  dine  at  his 
Majesty's  table.  My  sojourn  in  Paris  agreed  with  me.  At 
Letzlingen  I  shot  a  stag,  a  wild  sow,  four  stags  "  a  tete 
paumee,"  five  brockets,  four  fallow-deer;  nevertheless  I 
missed  many  good  shots;  while  my  neighbors  missed  more 
than  I.  Here,  work  is  daily  increasing.  To-day  from  eight 
till  eleven,  diplomacy;  from  eleven  until  half-after  two,  con- 
ferences with  several  ministers;  report  to  the  King  until 
four;  from  half-after  four  until  a  quarter  before  five  a  gallop 
in  the  rain  to  the  Hippodrome ;  dinner  at  five ;  from  seven 
until  ten,  that  is,  till  now,  work  of  all  kinds.  But  withal  good 
health,  good  sleep  and  strong  thirst. 

It  would  be  unjust  not  to  add  that  he  who,  from  then 
on,  was  to  direct  the  policy  of  Prussia  and  precipitate  it  into 
war,  did  so  at  his  own  peril.  The  Prussianizer  [!]  of  Ger- 
many was  to  become  terribly  unpopular. 

In  1866,  at  the  campaign  of  Sadowa,  he  was  so  bitterly 
execrated  that  a  German  journal  published  an  announce- 
ment in  which  a  certain  Dr.  J.  Hundegger  offered  "  a  prize 
of  100  florins  to  the  soldier  who  will  obtain  possession  of 
the  person  of  Count  von  Bismarck,  dead  or  alive."  (Bis- 
marck was  elevated  to  the  rank  of  Count  after  the  Conven- 
tion of  Gastein  in  August,  1865.) 

In  that  same  year  (May  5,  1866)  occurred  the  attempt  of 
the  student  Blind.  Bismarck,  having  left  the  Royal  Palace, 


58  The  Real  Bismarck. 

was  crossing  the  Avenue  des  Tilleuls  when  two  pistol  shots 
echoed  behind  him;  as  he  turned  three  more  shots  followed, 
the  last  grazing  his  shoulder;  he  seized  his  assailant  by  the 
wrist  and  succeeded  in  holding  him  until  the  officers  ap- 
peared. 

Blind  declared  that  he  intended  only  to  save  Germany 
by  suppressing  "  the  instigator  of  a  fratricidal  war."  Some 
days  after  he  committed  suicide  in  prison,  and  German 
public  opinion  was  so  violently  excited  against  Bismarck 
that  the  wives  of  high  officials  placed  flowers  upon  the  stu- 
dent's grave. 

This  chapter  shall  terminate  with  an  amusing  anecdote, 
relative  to  the  various  sojourns  which  Bismarck  made  at  Gas- 
tein  during  the  negotiations  of  the  convention  which  was  to 
regulate  the  Duchies  of  Schleswig-Holstein  and  Lauen- 
burg;  an  anecdote  authenticated  by  the  accompanying 
photograph. 

One  day  while  the  President-Minister  was  walking  in  the 
park  at  Gastein  he  met  the  celebrated  singer,  Pauline  Lucca 
(Countess  von  Rah  den). 

"  You  look  very  gloomy,"  said  Pauline  Lucca. 

"  One  cannot  always  be  gay,"  replied  Bismarck;  "  and  as 
for  me,  I  have  no  reason  to  feel  so  just  now." 

"  Well,"  suggested  the  actress,  "  come  and  be  photo- 
graphed with  me;  that  will  distract  you  for  at  least  a  few 
moments." 

Bismarck  acquiesced,  and  this  was  the  origin  of  the  photo- 
graph which  is  still  in  existence  at  Friedrichsruh,  and  below 
which  the  Chancellor  has  written :  "  Art  is  pleasant,  life  is 
serious." 

This  photograph  made  a  great  scandal  in  Germany. 

To  his  friend,  Andre  de  Roman,  who  reproached  him  for 
the  foolishness,  he  replied  by  a  long  homily  pointed  with 
irony,  from  which  I  extract  the  following  curious  passage : 


The  Real  Bismarck. 


59 


Madame  von  Rahden,  although  a  singer,  is  a  woman 
whom  no  one  can  accuse  (with  more  truth  than  I  could  be 
accused)  of  ever  maintaining  illicit  relations;  nevertheless, 
had  I,  even  at  the  last  moment,  weighed  the  possibilities  of 
chagrin  which  this  pleasantry  might  cause  many  sincere 
friends,  I  would  have  retired  beyond  the  range  of  the  ob- 


Bismarck  and  Pauline  Lucca  (Ischl,  1865). 

jective  directed  upon  us.  *  *  *  But  your  friendship  and 
your  own  belief  in  Jesus  Christ,  make  me  hope  that  you  will 
recommend  me  to  the  clemency  of  my  judges,  for  all  of  us 
have  need  of  it.  I  hope  that  among  the  many  sinners  who  do 
not  vaunt  their  piety,  God  will  accord  me  also  his  grace  and 
not  deprive  me,  in  the  midst  of  the  doubts  and  dangers  of 


6o 


The  Real  Bismarck. 


my  mission,  of  the  support  of  the  humble  faith  with  which  I 
seek  my  path. 

*****  #  # 

The  war  which  Bismarck  had  been  years  in  preparing  was 
finally  declared,  and  the  victory  of  Sadowa  consecrated  the 


Bismarck  in  his  Study. 

triumph  of  his  policy.  Attired  in  his  uniform  of  cuirassier  of 
the  landwehr,  Bismarck  fought  through  the  entire  campaign 
by  the  King's  side.  His  biographers  report  concerning  this 
fact  a  typical  incident.  At  Sadowa,  the  shells  bursting  very 


The  Real  Bismarck.  61 

near  the  monarch,  Bismarck  invited  him  to  seek  a  place  of 
safety,  but  the  King  objected  that,  being  Generalissimo  of 
the  army,  his  place  was  in  the  midst  of  his  men.  The  situa- 
tion having  become  untenable,  Bismarck  insisted,  observ- 
ing that,  as  President  of  the  Cabinet  he  was  responsible  for 
the  life  of  his  Sovereign  and  consequently  had  the  right  to 
exact  that  it  should  not  be  uselessly  exposed.  The  King 
yielded  to  this  reasoning  and  turned  his  horse's  head;  but 
as  the  animal  walked  too  slowly  to  suit  Bismarck,  he,  dis- 
engaging his  foot  from  the  stirrup,  surreptitiously  gave  the 
horse  a  violent  dig  with  his  spur,  which  had  the  result  of 
promptly  carrying  the  King  and  his  minister  out  of  harm's 
reach.  One  hour  later  the  Prussian  bugles  proclaimed 
victory. 

The  political  events  which  signalized  the  years  which  fol- 
lowed and  terminated  in  the  regrettable  event  of  the  Franco- 
German  war,  are  not  our  affair.  Hence  they  will  be  merely 
mentioned  in  this  place. 

Bismarck  had  replied  to  Napoleon  III.'s  appreciation  of 
him,  "  That  man  is  not  serious,"  by  saying  that  the  Em- 
peror was  but  a  romantic  fool.  This,  too,  was  a  true  esti- 
mate, for  from  1866  Napoleon  III.  aged,  grew  stupid,  lost 
vivacity,  committed  fault  upon  fault  and  fell  like  a  child  into 
every  trap  the  Prussian  diplomatist  set  for  him. 

Perceiving  rather  late  that  it  had  been  a  mistake  to  crush 
Austria,  he  engaged  in  a  "  politique  de  pourboire"  asked 
compensation,  offered  to  Prussia  an  alliance,  offensive  and 
defensive,  in  exchange  for  the  cession  of  the  Luxembourg, 
the  Palatinate  and  Hesse  (Mayence  included).  But  Bis- 
marck had  no  interest  in  concluding  that  alliance;  he  felt 
that  war  with  France  was  inevitable  if  the  unification  of  Ger- 
many was  to  be  achieved  by  grouping  under  one  flag,  in 
times  of  danger,  the  northern  and  southern  states.  He  con- 
tinued to  oppose  to  the  exactions  of  the  Emperor  that  dila- 


62  The  Real  Bismarck. 

tory  policy  which  he  had  hitherto  found  so  successful,  while 
lie  quietly  assured  himself  of  the  neutrality  of  Austria  and 
Italy  and  accomplished  the  isolation  of  France  in  the  event 
of  war. 

'  Napoleon  III.  compromised  himself  more  and  more 
deeply;  encouraged  by  the  half- victory  of  the  evacuation  of 
the  Luxembourg,  he  held  back  in  the  affair  of  Schleswig, 
even  recommending  Prussia  to  annex  Saxony  by  force;  and 
finally,  when  there  remained  but  one  more  blunder  to  com- 
mit, that  of  assuming  the  responsibility  of  a  declaration  of 
war,  Bismarck  suggested  it  to  him  by  reviving  the  candida- 
ture of  a  Hohenzollern  to  the  throne  of  Spain. 

The  conciliatory  disposition  of  the  King  of  Prussia  in  this 
affair  is  well  known.  Upon  steps  taken  by  the  French 
Ambassador  and  at  the  instance  of  M.  de  Grammont,  acting 
on  behalf  of  the  Emperor,  the  candidature  of  the  Hohen- 
zollerns  was  withdrawn. 

Napoleon  III.,  subjugated  by  his  advisers  who  would 
have  war  at  any  cost,  believed  it  necessary  to  exact  a  guar- 
anty for  the  future,  and  M.  Benedetti  was  charged  to  de- 
mand it  verbally  of  the  King,  who  was  then  at  Ems.  But  the 
King  eluded  the  solicited  interview  by  returning  the  reply 
that  he  had  nothing  further  to  communicate  upon  the  sub- 
ject. 

Bismarck  amplified  the  despatch  from  Ems  which  an- 
nounced the  King's  decision,  transmitting  it  to  the  foreign 
cabinet  in  a  form  presenting  the  matter,  insignificant  in  itself, 
as  a  humiliating  check  to  France. 

Napoleon  III.  considered  that  there  was  then  no  choice 
but  to  declare  war  against  Prussia. 


VI. 

Hereditary  Enemy — "  With  the  Help  of  God  " — Bismarck  Cam- 
paigning— The  Secret  of  His  Insomnia — The  Chancellor's  Col- 
leagues— Antagonism  between  the  Chancellor  and  the  Army 
Staff — Bismarck's  Criticism  of  German  Generals — Bismarck, 
Strategist — The  Capitulation  of  Sedan  Related  by  the  Chan- 
cellor— The  Humorous  Diplomatist  is  Checkmated  by  a  Bavar- 
ian Gunner. 

Bismarck  was  at  last  to  be  enabled  to  satiate  his  hatred  of 
France  and  the  French.  Hatred  born  of  all  the  dissemblance 
of  soul  which  has  created  between  the  Gauls  and  the  Teutons 
an  historical  and  ethnical  abyss  seemingly  impassable;  of  all 
which  distinguishes  the  heavy,  stiff-backed  Prussian  soldier 
from  the  light,  supple  trooper  of  France;  hatred  which  is 
nourished  at  the  profound  sources  of  intellectual  and  physical 
antagonisms,  by  that  which  the  Germans  lack  of  our  finesse, 
our  wit,  even  our  courtesy,  which  Bismarck  considers  "  hy- 
pocrisy and  envy." 

If  Bismarck  may  not  be  said  to  be  the  direct  instigator  of 
that  war,  at  least  the  sly  diplomatist  sought  and  provoked  it, 
and  assumed  all  the  responsibility  thereof,  because  in  his 
hands  have  been  held,  since  1866,  the  principal  pieces  in  the 
political  game  of  chess  in  Europe. 

With  a  light  heart  he  quitted  Varzin,  a  new  estate  which 
he  had  acquired  in  1867,  after  a  visit  to  the  Exposition  Uni- 
verselle;  a  visit  by  which  he  had  profited  to  execute  his  last 
diplomatical  curvets  before  the  Emperor  at  the  Tuileries. 

The  die  was  cast!  the  feudal  dog  would  follow  his  master 
and  would  not  return  to  Berlin  until  after  having  strength- 
ened the  Imperial  crown  upon  the  head  of  William  I. 

63 


64  The  Real  Bismarck. 

The  unheard-of,  the  disconcerting  fact  in  all  this  is  the 
good  faith  with  which  he  imagined  himself  playing  a  provi- 
dential role,  acting  by  virtue  of  a  special  decree  from  the  God 
of  the  Protestants. 

'Twas  "  by  God's  aid  "  that  he  would  carry  across  deso- 
lated France  his  eternal  uniform  of  the  cuirassiers  (white  cap, 
boots,  blue  coat  and  yellow  collar) ;  "  by  God's  aid  "  that 
he  would  put  Strasbourg  to  fire  and  sword ;  "  by  God's 
aid  "  that  he  would  rain  upon  the  vanquished  his  jests,  his 
malice,  all  the  arsenal  of  his  Berliner's  wits;  "  by  God's 
aid  "  that  he  would  show  himself  implacable  toward  Jules 
Favre,  whose  grief  was  to  appear  to  him  artistically  painted ; 
finally,  it  was  "  by  God's  aid  "  that  he  would  crown  his  work 
by  founding  the  German  Empire  upon  the  ruins  of  the  Ger- 
man Confederation.  And  one  asks  one's  self,  by  what  strange 
aberration  of  mind  a  man  of  such  lofty  intelligence  could 
see  the  finger  of  Providence  in  a  succession  of  phenomena  so 
contrary  to  Christian  morality  (his  own  morality),  even  to 
the  most  elementary  principles  of  social  evolution,  which 
proves  that  every  epoch  marked  by  the  supremacy  of  the 
military  type  coincides  with  a  general  halt  in  the  progress  of 
civilization.  Yet  perhaps  after  all,  one  should  see  in  this 
affectation  of  religious  fatalism  only  an  unconscious  trans- 
position of  the  spirit  of  superstition  common  to  all  men  of 
genius,  or  still  possibly  a  reflex  manifestation  of  the  Bis- 
marckian  humour;  of  that  irrepressible  boyishness  of  tem- 
perament which  seems  to  be  the  common  appanage  of  great 
dogs  and  great  men. 

From  beginning  to  end  of  this  terrible  campaign  the 
future  Chancellor  shared  his  master's  fatigues,  manifesting 
neither  wavering  nor  lassitude.  The  first  encampments  were 
lacking  in  every  comfort;  often  it  was  necessary  to  impro- 
vise from  various  unsuitable  articles,  the  table  at  which  Bis- 
marck breakfasted  and  dined  and  transacted  the  business  of 


The  Real  Bismarck.  65 

the  Empire  by  the  flickering  light  of  candles  stuck  into  the 
necks  of  empty  champagne-bottles.  He  had  frequently  to 
content  himself  with  a  mattress  upon  the  ground  instead  of 
a  bed;  and  as  he  could  sleep  little  he  worked  far  into  the 
night,  obliging  his  secretaries  and  others  of  his  staff  to  sit 
with  him. 

The  secret  of  his  insomnia  was  less  the  anxieties  of  war 
than  his  habit  of  inordinate  eating  and  drinking;  vices  which, 
six  years  later,  were  to  bring  him  to  death's  door.  He  ad- 
mits himself  that  he  has  the  misfortune  to  eat  and  drink  in- 
continently as  in  his  Gottingen  days. 

"  There  is  always  a  dish  too  many,"  he  said  at  Versailles. 
"  I  am  resolved  to  ruin  my  stomach  with  canard  aux  olives, 
and  there  is  still  jambon  de  Rheinfeld,  which  I  must  eat  if  only 
to  get  my  share,  because  I  do  not  take  dejeuner  a  la  fourch- 
ette;  arid  to  crown  all  we  have  sanglier  de  Varzin! " 

But  we  will  not  anticipate.  The  Chancellor  entered  upon 
the  campaign  with  a  staff  of  secretaries  and  councillors;  a 
somewhat  homogeneous  collection,  for  it  included  gentlemen 
such  as  the  Baron  von  Holstein,  old  revolutionists  like 
Lothar  Buscher,  and  defrocked  clerics  like  Moritz  Busch; 
elements  very  dissimilar,  but  which  the  cleverness  of  the 
Chancellor  knew  how  to  "  lump  "  as  M.  Clemenceau  would 
say.  The  lump  in  question  lodged  in  the  same  house  with 
the  Chancellor,  when  circumstances  permitted,  and  ate  at 
the  same  table. 

When  Bismarck  visited  a  field  of  battle  or  a  view  he  car- 
ried a  black  leather  case  containing  field-glasses  and  was 
armed  with  a  sword  and  a  revolver.  In  the  way  of  decora- 
tions he  ordinarily  wore  only  the  Cross  of  the  Commander 
of  the  Red  Eagle,  to  which  later  was  added  the  Iron  Cross. 

During  the  entire  campaign  Bismarck  gave  proof  of  en-"") 
durance  and  self-denial,  if  not  of  sobriety. 

"  In  travelling,"  writes  Mr.  Busch,  "  our  carriages  immedi- 


66 


The  Real  Bismarck. 


ately  followed  those  of  the  King.  We  started  generally  about 
ten  in  the  morning  and  sometimes  accomplished  long  stages. 
"  Upon  our  arrival  at  the  place  where  the  night  was  to  be 
spent  a  bureau  was  established  without  loss  of  time,  where 
someone  was  always  at  work." 


The  Church  at  Schonhausen. 

There  were  notes  to  take,  circulars  to  draw  up,  orders  to 
write  or  copy,  telegrams  to  cipher  or  decipher;  and  all  was 
done  silently,  calmly,  with  prodigious  rapidity;  doubly  con- 
trasting with  the  disorder  in  the  German  military  head- 
quarters and  above  all,  alas !  in  the  French. 

Serious  antagonism  began  to  display  itself  between  the 


The  Real  Bismarck.  69 

Chancellor's  staff  and  that  of  the  King;  that  is  to  say,  be- 
tween the  civil  element  and  the  military.  The  disguises  of 
these  gentlemen — that  of  Bismarck  in  the  yellow  uniform 
of  the  cuirassiers,  of  Kendell  in  the  blue  uniform  of  the 
cuirassiers,  and  of  Bismarck  Bohlen  in  the  uniform  of  the 
King's  dragoons — were  held  in  slight  esteem  by  the  real 
military  men.  Rather  frequent  conflicts,  resulting  in  sullen 
rivalry,  occurred  between  the  diplomatic  and  the  military 
directors;  the  latter  going  so  far  as  even  to  refuse  to  com- 
municate certain  despatches  to  the  Chancellor.  Upon  their 
arrival  at  the  markets  the  officers  chose  the  best  places  for 
themselves.  When  Verdun  capitulated,  they  neglected  even 
to  submit  to  the  Chancellor  the  treaty  of  capitulation.  "  And 
it  contained  an  absurdity,"  was  his  later  criticism. 

Nor  did  he  learn  of  the  victory  at  Mans  except  through  a 
pencilled  note  from  the  King.  The  staff  had  neglected  to  ad- 
vise him  of  it.  Bismarck  bitterly  complained,  at  various 
times,  of  this  state  of  things.  "Such  ingratitude!  "  said  he: 
"  how  can  they  treat  me  so,  I,  who  have  always  defended  the 
interests  of  the  army  in  the  Reichstag?  but  who  lives  shall 
see.  I  shall  know  how  to  change  sides  at  need,  and  they  will 
see  the  military  enthusiast  return  to  Germany  a  Parliamenta- 
rian ;  yes,  I  am  quite  capable  of  taking  my  seat  with  the  ex- 
treme left!  " 

Hence,  Bismarck's  rage  when  Germany  seemed  to  accuse 
him  of  prolonging  unnecessarily  the  siege  of  Paris ;  him,  who 
considered  himself  the  humble  victim  of  the  military  evasions 
and  tergiversations.  It  is  in  fact  well-known  that  Bismarck's 
one  idea  was  to  finish  the  bombardment  as  promptly  as  pos- 
sible; so  animated  became  the  discussion  of  this  point  with 
the  generals  that  he  even  threatened  to  resign. 

At  table  Bismarck  was  unsparing  in  sarcasms  levelled 
against  the  staff.  He  asserted  that  von  Moltke  was  so  pos- 
sessed by  the  notion  of  war  with  France  that,  after  the 


70  The  Real  Bismarck. 

Hohenzollern  affair,  he  seemed  to  become  rejuvenated  or  to 
age  at  sight  according  as  events  promised  immediate  war,  or 
rendered  the  chances  of  it  more  remote. 

General  Steinmetz,  in  Bismarck's  eyes,  was  but  a  shedder 
of  blood.  "  At  Gravelotte  he  really  abused  the  enormous 
bravery  of  our  troops,"  he  said;  and  added,  speaking  of  the 
battles  fought  under  the  walls  of  Metz:  "The  jealousy  of 
our  generals  is  the  cause  of  our  having  lost  so  many  men." 

General  von  Budrizki,  who,  at  Bourget,  marched  at  the 
head  of  his  troops,  flag  in  hand,  he  sarcastically  likened  to  the 
Belloir  of  the  Berliners,  an  upholsterer  and  decorator  named 
Hittl.  "  A  general's  place  is  not  at  the  head  of  his  troops," 
he  concluded;  "  his  mission  is  not  decorative,  but  a  role  of 
surveillance  and  of  direction." 

Again  at  Ferrieres,  he  said :  "  More  than  one  of  our  gen- 
erals abuse  the  self-abnegation  of  our  soldiers  by  giving  them- 
selves the  glory  of  a  victory.  After  all,  the  hardened  rascals 
of  the  staff  are  perhaps  right  when  they  say  that  if  the  500,- 
ooo  men  whom  we  have  in  France  were  destroyed,  they 
would  but  represent  our  stakes;  and  it  matters  little  if  they 
are  lost,  provided  the  game  is  eventually  won.  To  take  the 
bull  by  the  horns  is  an  easy  stratagem." 

It  is  seen  that  Bismarck  never  missed  an  opportunity  to 
criticise  the  operations  of  his  rivals.  He  even  denied  them  the 
merit  of  knowing  enough  to  engage  in  battle  upon  a  fixed 
date;  remarking  that  the  battle  of  Gravelotte,  which  should 
not  have  taken  place  until  August  29th,  had  been  fought 
merely  at  the  will  of  the  advance-guard. 

Bismarck  was  evidently  covetous  of  the  part  of  a  Bliicher, 
even  of  a  Napoleon.  "  Ah !  "  he  exclaimed,  "  if  I  were  an  of- 
ficer in  perpetuity,  as  I  would  be,  I  should  now  be  at  the 
head  of  an  army  and  we  should  not  be  before  Paris." 

At  Commercy  he  had  his  own  plan  of  campaign,  which  so 
impressed  him  that  he  confided  it  to  the  King,  recommend- 


The  Real  Bismarck.  Ji 

ing  it  upon  the  childish  pretext  that  it  had  succeeded  in  1814. 
The  plan  was  simply  to  have  the  cavalry  light  the  way,  on 
the  march,  and  the  infantry  explore  the  ground  to  right  and 
left.  The  most  elementary  notions  of  service  in  the  country, 
it  must  be  admitted;  and  the  plan  was  not  one  to  advance, 
in  the  minds  of  the  German  staff  officers,  Bismarck's  strategic 
reputation.  Yet  the  King  approved  it. 

At  Sedan,  he  it  was  who  directed  the  conference  relative 
to  the  capitulation,  and  the  following  is  the  relation  of  the 
proceedings  made  to  his  faithful  Busch : 

After  the  battle  of  the  first  of  September  I  went  to 
Donchery  with  Marshal  von  Moltke  to  open  negotiations 
with  the  French.  There  we  spent  the  night,  while  the  King 
returned  to  head-quarters  at  Vendresse.  The  conference 
lasted  until  after  midnight  without  result.  General  Blumen- 
thal  and  three  or  four  staff  officers  took  part  in  it,  with 
von  Moltke  and  me.  General  von  Wimpfen  spoke  for  the 
French.  Marshal  von  Moltke  simply  stipulated  that  the  en- 
tire French  army  should  deliver  itself  up  a  prisoner.  Gen- 
eral von  Wimpfen  objected  that  it  was  too  severe  an  exaction; 
the  army  had,  by  its  bravery,  earned  a  better  fate.  His  chief, 
that  it  might  be  permitted  to  retire  upon  condition  that,  dur- 
ing the  remainder  of  the  campaign,  it  would  not  serve  against 
us,  and  that  it  should  be  sent  into  Algeria  or  into  any  other 
French  territory  upon  which  we  should  determine. 

Marshal  von  Moltke  coldly  repeated  his  conditions.  Gen- 
eral von  Wimpfen  represented  his  unfortunate  position. 
Only  two  days  since  had  he  arrived  from  Africa  and  joined 
his  troops;  he  had  taken  command  only  toward  the  end  of 
the  engagement,  after  Marshal  MacMahon  had  been 
wounded ;  and  now  he  was  called  upon  to  sign  such  a  capitu- 
lation. Marshal  von  Moltke  expressed  his  regret  at  being 
unable  to  take  into  consideration  the  General's  position, 
which  nevertheless  he  appreciated.  He  did  homage  to  the 
valour  of  the  French  troops,  but  declared  that  they  could 
not  successfully  defend  Sedan,  and  that  to  pass  through  our 
lines  was  impossible.  He  asked  nothing  better  than  to  have 


72  The  Real  Bismarck. 

an  aide-de-camp  of  the  General  visit  our  positions  in  order 
to  convince  himself  of  the  fact. 

General  von  Wimpfen  then  attacked  the  political  side  of 
the  question;  saying  that  from  that  view-point  prudence 
advised  us  to  accord  him  better  conditions.  We  could 
not  but  desire  a  prompt  and  permanent  peace,  and  of  that 
we  could  not  be  assured  unless  we  showed  ourselves  gener- 
ous. By  sparing  the  army  we  should  win  his  gratitude  and 
that  of  the  entire  nation,  and  awaken  everywhere  friendly 
sentiments.  A  contrary  decision  would  mark  the  beginning 
of_,an  interminable  war. 

Upon  this  I  continued  the  discussion,  because  the  reply 
to  that  argument  lay  within  my  domain:  "The  gratitude 
of  a  prince  may  be  counted  upon,"  I  said,  "  but  not  the  grati- 
tude of  a  people;  and  the  gratitude  of  the  French  is  more 
to  be  doubted  than  that  of  another  people.  Neither  situa- 
tions nor  institutions  endure  in  France.  Dynasties  and 
governments  succeed  each  other  without  intermission ;  and 
the  one  naturally  is  not  bound  by  the  promises  made  by  the 
other.  Since  this  state  of  things  obtains  we  should  be  fool- 
ish not  to  follow  up  our  success.  The  French  are  an  envious 
and  jealous  people.  The  victory  of  Koenigsgrcetz  wounded 
them  and  they  have  never  pardoned  it,  although  it  took 
nothing  from  them.  How  is  our  generosity  going  to  make 
them  forget  Sedan?  " 

General  von  Wimpfen  did  not  yield;  he  insisted  that  the 
French  character  had  been  modified  by  time  and  events. 
"  France,"  said  he,  "  learned  under  the  Empire  to  regard 
peace  as  of  more  importance  than  military  glory;  she  is 
ready  to  proclaim  the  fraternity  of  the  nations,"  etc.,  etc. 
It  was  easy  for  me  to  prove  to  him  the  contrary  and  to  show 
him  that  to  grant  his  demand  would  but  prolong  the  war 
indefinitely.  I  concluded  by  saying  that  our  demands  must 
be  insisted  upon. 

General  Castelnau  then  spoke,  declaring  in  the  name  of 
his  Sovereign  that  the  Emperor  had  the  day  before  given  up 
his  sword  to  the  King  only  in  the  hope  of  obtaining  hon- 
orable terms  of  capitulation.  "  What  sword  was  it?  "  I 
asked,  "  the  sword  of  France  or  the  Emperor's  own? " 
"  The  Emperor's  sword,"  was  the  reply.  "  Then,"  ex- 
claimed Marshal  von  Moltke,  "  there  can  be  no  question  of 


The  Real  Bismarck.  73 

other  conditions/'  and  a  smile  of  satisfaction  brightened  his 
face.  "  Good,"  said  General  Wimpfen;  "  in  that  case  we 
shall  fight  once  more  to-morrow."  "  I  shall  open  fire  at  four 
o'clock,"  replied  Marshal  von  Moltke.  The  French  moved 
as  if  to  go  but  I  persuaded  them  to  remain  and  think  twice 
upon  the  matter.  They  finally  decided  to  ask  for  an  exten- 
sion of  the  armistice  that  they  might  have  time  to  consult 
with  their  colleagues  at  Sedan  regarding  our  demands. 
Marshal  von-  Moltke  was  at  first  unwilling  to  consent  to  it 
but  I  represented  that  a  prolongation  of  the  truce  would 
not  in  any  way  injure  our  interests,  and  he  yielded. 

On  the  second,  at  six  o'clock  in  the  morning,  General 
Reille  came  to  my  lodging  in  Donchery  and  said  the  Em- 
peror desired  to  speak  with  me.  I  dressed  and  mounted  my 
horse  to  ride  to  Sedan  where  I  expected  to  find  him;  but  he 
was  met  at  Fresnais,  three  kilometres  from  Donchery,  be- 
side the  pavement.  He  was  seated,  with  three  of  his  offi- 
cers, in  a  carriage  drawn  by  two  horses,  and  three  more 
officers  accompanied  the  carriage.  I  recognized  only  MM. 
Reille,  Castelnau,  de  la  Moskowa  and  Joubert.  I  had  stuck 
my  revolver  through  my  sash  and  the  Emperor's  eyes  were 
fastened  upon  it  for  a  full  minute. 

Here  followed  a  remark  unflattering,  no  doubt,  to  Napo- 
leon; an  expression,  at  any  rate,  so  undiplomatic  that  Busch 
thought  it  necessary  to  excuse  himself  from  repeating  it. 
Bismarck  continued: 

I  gave  him  the  military  salute;  he  took  off  his  kepi  and 
the  officers  followed  his  example;  I  imitated  them  although 
it  is  contrary  to  our  military  rules.  "  Put  on  your  cap,"  he 
said.  I  treated  him  precisely  as  I  had  at  Saint  Cloud  and 
asked  him  what  his  orders  were.  He  desired  to  speak  to  the 
King.  I  assured  him  that  that  was  impossible,  the  King's 
head-quarters  being  two  leagues  distant.  The  fact  is  I  did 
not  wish  him  to  see  the  King  until  the  terms  of  the  capitula- 
tion were  settled.  He  next  asked  where  he  could  stop,  which 
indicated  that  he  was  averse  to  a  return  to  Sedan. 

Finally  they  rode  down  to  Donchery  and,  as  the  Emperor 
insisted  upon  seeing  the  King,  Bismarck  withdrew  his  ob- 


74  The  Real  Bismarck. 

jections  and  conducted  him  to  the  Chateau  de  Bellevue,  near 
Fresnais,  where  the  interview  took  place.  "  But,"  the  Chan- 
cellor added,  "  it  was  arranged  so  that  Napoleon  could  not 
see  the  King  until  after  the  conditions  of  the  capitulation  had 
been  settled  by  von  Moltke;  military  men  being  always  more 
severe  in  such  questions." 

In  the  course  of  this  brilliant  march  through  France,  pil- 
laged, burned,  despoiled,  Bismarck  found  opportunity  to  re- 
mark that  the  French  peasants  were  still  as  invariably  ugly 
as  when  he  was  here  in  his  diplomatic  character.  "  I  cannot 
understand  it !  "  he  protested  to  Busch,  "  one  must  conclude 
that  the  pretty  ones  go  to  Paris  to  invest  their  capital." 

The  humorist  finally  awoke;  the  humorist  whose  bon 
mots  Busch  collected  at  Versailles;  the  humorist  whose 
fancy  is  at  its  best  only  when  he  writes.  In  his  table-talk  he 
is  rather  heavy  and  his  jests  are  nearly  always  in  deplorably 
bad  taste,  as  will  be  seen  in  the  following  chapter.  I  will  ter- 
minate this  one  with  an  anecdote  full  of  genuine  humour,  the 
honour  of  which,  however,  belongs  to  a  simple  Prussian 
soldier  who  succeeded  in  outdoing  the  Chancellor. 

Bismarck  was  ordered  by  the  King  to  present  a  cross  to  a 
Bavarian  gunner  whose  heroism  was  the  cause  of  his  being 
severely  wounded.  He  sought  the  modest  foot-soldier  with 
the  full  intention  of  serving  the  man  one  of  his  characteristic 
turns. 

"  I  am  charged  by  the  King,"  said  Bismarck,  "  to  bestow 
upon  you  this  cross,  or  instead  of  it  the  sum  of  one  hundred 
thalers;  whichever  you  may  choose." 

The  poor  fellow,  for  the  moment  disconcerted,  looked  at 
the  Chancellor  who  continued  imperturbably  serious.  Then, 
his  determination  taken,  he  resolutely  asked : 

"  How  much  is  the  cross  worth?  " 

"  About  seventy-five  thalers,"  replied  Bismarck. 

The  man  reflected  a  moment,  then  said  ingenuously : 


The  Real  Bismarck.  75 

"  Well,  give  it  to  me  and  twenty-five  thaler s  to  boot ;  that 
will  even  the  account." 

The  Chancellor  complied,  confessed  himself  beaten  and 
went  off  to  relate  the  incident  to  the  King,  whom  it  greatly 
amused. 


The  Bismarck  Arms. 


VII. 

The  Chancery  of  the  Confederation  at  Versailles — Discussions  and 
Conferences  Upon  Gastronomy — A  Mot  of  Arsene  Houssaye — 
Bacchic  Exploits  "of  Bismarck — Berlin  Wit — The  Menu  of 
Foreign  Affairs — A  Well-Guarded  House — National  Industry  of 
Prussia — The  Factory  at  Versailles  and  Its  Head — Ingenuity  of 
a  Prussian  Correspondent — How  History  is  Written — Bis- 
marck in  His  Dressing-Gown — The  "  Varieties  "  of  the  "  Ber- 
lin Novelist."' 

After  the.  decisive  victories  which  have  been  mentioned 
the  Prussians  invested  Paris.  They  established  their  head- 
quarters at  Versailles  and  Bismarck  was  installed  at  the 
hotel  of  Mme.  Jesse,  Rue  de  Provence,  No.  12;  there  was 
then  an  end  of  indifferent  food  and  lodging.  The  table  be- 
came the  object  of  the  peculiar  care  of  his  associates.  "  Their 
culinary  artist,  a  simple  soldier,  served  them  breakfasts  and 
dinners  to  which  one  accustomed  to  the  plain  cuisine  bour- 
geoise  must  render  this  justice,"  said  Mr.  Busch,  "  he  trans- 
ported them  into  the  bosom  of  Abraham;  particularly  be- 
cause, among  other  celestial  gifts,  the  gentlemen  enjoyed  ex- 
quisite wines  and  champagne  at  every  meal!  " 

As  a  rule  the  repasts  were  seasoned  with  bon  mots,  jests  and 
political  and  gastronomical  discussions  which  the  historiog- 
rapher Busch  has  faithfully  recorded. 

At  Ferrieres,  in  the  sumptuous  dining-room  of  the  Roth- 
childs'  chateau/  Bismarck  entered  upon  an  endless  disserta- 
tion upon  fish  as  a  dish  for  the  table,  during  which  he  found 
occasion  to  praise  the  superb  trout  in  his  lakes  at  Varzin. 
He  also  remarked  by-the-way,  that  he  was  very  fond  of  salted 
herring;  happily  for  him,  because  that  passion  some  years 

76 


The  Real  Bismarck.  77 

later  saved  his  life,  as  will  be  seen  in  the  section  of  this  book 
devoted  to  Friedrichsruh. 

He  is  fond  of  oysters,  especially  of  broiled  oysters;  a  pref- 
erence which,  to  our  thinking,  constitutes  a  crime  of  lese- 
gastronomy.  Someone  having  mentioned  mushrooms,  the 
Chancellor  seized  the  opportunity  to  prove  that  the  country- 
man was  not  dead  in  him,  and  named  in  detail  all  the  species 
of  mushrooms  to  be  found  in  the  north.  A  peroration  upon 
fruits  crowned  the  discourse,  when  he  declared  himself  a  de- 
vout amateur  in  the  cultivation  of  cherries,  plums,  of  wild 
fruits  even  more  particularly;  such  as  blackberries  and  blue- 
berries, which  are  plentiful  in  Germany. 

Another  day,  wines,  beers,  liquors,  were  discussed.  Al- 
though Bismarck  is  himself  a  beer-drinker  he  deplored  the 
abuse  of  it  in  Germany,  saying  that  it  made  one  stupid,  lazy, 
impotent,  and  was  besides  the  source  of  all  the  political 
gossip  at  the  grog-shops.  This,  certainly,  was  a  judgment 
hardly  flattering  to  the  Chancellor's  compatriots.  As  for 
him,  he  said,  he  held  to  the  Prussian  dictum;  "  Red  wines  for 
children,  champagne  for  men  and  '  schnapps  '  [brandy]  for 
generals."  Brandy  is,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  alcoholic  stim- 
ulant which  Bismarck  prefers  to  all  others;  without  prejudice 
to  the  Rhenish  wines  and  champagne,  porter  or  even  tea  and 
sherry — which  von  Moltke  drank  at  Ferrieres. 

With  such  principles  it  was  hardly  astonishing  that  the 
Chancellor  should  and  did  occasionally  sacrifice  his  time  to 
the  indulgence  of  his  intemperate  inclinations;  he  did  not 
seek  to  dissemble  the  weakness — which  is  shared  by  the 
greater  number  of  Germans:  on  the  contrary!  he  gloried  in 
it,  complacently  recalling  the  Bacchic  prowess  of  which  he 
had  given  proof  in  his  younger  days,  and  proudly  remarking 
that  his  head  resisted  admirably  the  most  formidable  bump- 
ers. Given  a  little  encouragement,  he  would  have  posed  as 
the  father  of  diplomatic  intemperance,  yet  Talleyrand  sur- 
passed him  in  like  exploits. 


78  The  Real  Bismarck. 

Arsene  Houssaye  used  to  assert  that  champagne  was  the 
sovereign  remedy  for  all  ills,  and  that  a  tisane  de  champagne 
was  the  best  of  medicinal  tisanes.  Bismarck  holds  precisely 
the  same  opinion;  he  has  used  this  remedy  many  times  when 
excessively  fatigued  and  always  with  most  satisfactory  re- 
sults. Upon  one  occasion,  in  the  course  of  a  hunt,  the  officers 
of  a  regiment  whom  they  chanced  to  visit  offered  a  banquet 
to  the  King  and  his  suite.  Bismarck  was  presented  with  an 
enormous  goblet  in  the  form  of  a  barrel,  filled  to  the  brim 
with  champagne,  the  officers  rejoicing  in  advance  at  the  idea 
of  fuddling  the  diplomatist.  Bismarck,  however,  tranquilly 
accepted  the  proffered  goblet,  held  his  breath  and  drained  it 
at  a  gulp;  then,  to  the  consternation  of  the  officers,  he  re- 
quested another  and  would  have  emptied  it  in  the  same  man- 
ner had  not  the  King  interposed. 

But  these  gastronomical  dissertations  are  not  the  only  ones 
reported  by  Herr  Busch.  The  German  Macchiavelli  touched 
upon  all  subjects  with  his  rather  heavily  humorous  appreci- 
ation. Often,  after  a  bottle  of  old  Pommard,  would  one 
catch  the  word  "  cruel  "  followed  by  many  gallophobic  proph- 
ecies. 

Bismarck  would  sometimes  imagine,  as  a  consequence  of 
the  victories  which  he  anticipated,  "  the  transformation  of  a 
part  of  France  into  a  German  colony  of  eight  or  ten  million 
souls;  a  kind  of  neutral  territory,  without  an  army,  upon 
which  Germany  would  be  satisfied  merely  to  levy  taxes." 
Sometimes  purely  humorous  impressions  composed  the  con- 
versation; the  master  depicted  the  state  of  his  mind  during 
his  conference  with  Napoleon  III.,  a  prisoner,  in  the  wood- 
cutter's hut  at  Donchery;  saying  that  he  felt  upon  that  occa- 
sion much  the  sensation  which  must  be  experienced  by  a 
dancer  at  a  ball  who,  having  asked  a  young  girl  to  dance  the 
cotillion  with  him,  finds  nothing  further  to  say  and  wishes 
himself  well  out  of  it. 


The  Real  Bismarck. 


79 


At  that  same  period  Bismarck  pronounced  more  or  less  ab- 
surd opinions  concerning  the  "  genius  "  of  the  French  peo- 
ple. "  Scratch  a  Frenchman,"  he  said,  "  and  you  find  a 
Turk."  And  again:  "The  French  nation  is  only  a  crowd; 


Villa  Hollandia  at  Gastein,  Habitation  of  Bismarck. 

it  lacks  individuality,  counts  only  en  masse.  There  are  in 
France  thirty  millions  of  obedient  creatures  who  are  individ- 
ually valueless.  It  was  easy  to  make  of  these  creatures,  lack- 
ing both  character  and  personality,  a  force  capable  of  de- 


8o  The  Real  Bismarck. 

stroying  all  in  its  path  so  long  as  our  unity  was  not  accom- 
plished." 

"  Parisians,  with  their  political  superstitions,  form  a  race 
apart,  in  France;  they  are  narrow  in  their  conceptions,  which 
to  them  are  sacred  traditions,  but  which,  closely  examined, 
are  found  to  be  but  hollow  phrases,  simply  props." 

When  he  saw  Jules  Favre  again,  four  months  after  the  con- 
ference at  Ferrieres,  he  thought  him  looking  more  grey  and 
more  stout,  and  remarked  that  the  diet  of  horse-flesh  had 
doubtless  contributed  to  that  result.  Also  when  Jules  Favre 
complained  that  the  Germans  had  fired  upon  the  hospice  des 
Quinze-vingts,  he  replied: 

"  Why  not?  The  French  fired  upon  our  men,  who  were 
well  and  vigorous." 

Another  time,  Jules  Favre  having  said  that  at  Paris  the 
women  were  to  be  seen  walking  on  the  boulevards  with  very 
pretty,  healthy-looking  children,  Bismarck,  pretending  sur- 
prise, exclaimed:  "You  astonish  me!  I  supposed  you  had 
eaten  them  all." 

A  propos  of  the  French  peasants  who,  by  way  of  reprisal, 
were  burned  in  their  cabins,  Bismarck  declared  the  odour 
was  "  like  that  of  roasted  onions." 

To  the  Prince  Royal  whom  Bismarck  invited  to  his  table, 
and  who  was  enthusiastic  over  the  menu,  he  smilingly  re- 
marked that  they  were  the  specialties  of  foreign  affairs. 

"  The  inhabitants  of  the  Confederation  of  the  North,"  he 
added,  "  absolutely  insist  upon  having  a  fat  chancellor." 

To  Mme.  Jesse,  the  proprietor  of  the  hotel  in  the  Rue  de 
Provence,  he  remarked  upon  taking  his  leave  that  he  would 
with  pleasure  have  eaten  some  of  the  eggs  laid  by  her  Guinea- 
hens  but  that,  through  patriotism  no  doubt,  they  had  ob- 
stinately refused  to  lay  while  he  was  in  the  house. 

From  M.  Delerot's  book,  "  Versailles  pendant  1'occupa- 
iion,"  we  borrow  some  lines  concerning  the  appearance  of 


The  Real  Bismarck. 


81 


that  house  which  was  for  some  months  "  The  diplomatic 
centre  of  Europe."  (Herr  Busch  emphatically  called  it  "  the 
centre  of  civilized  Europe.") 

Placed  in  a  street  sufficiently  retired  and  easy  of  surveil- 
lance, surrounded  by  a  large  garden  and  completely  isolated 
from  the  neighbouring  houses,  this  mansion  offered  excep- 
tional conditions  of  security,  which  Herr  von  Bismarck 
seems  to  have  sought  before  all  else.  As  an  added  precau- 
tion, all  the  surrounding  houses  were  occupied  by  agents  of 


The  Chateau  of  Varzin. 

the  Chancellor.  The  house  upon  the  other  side  of  the  street 
remained  vacant;  that  adjoining  had  some  narrow  windows 
opening  upon  the  hotel  Jesse;  the  proprietors  were  re- 
quested to  close  these  windows  with  boards  and  to  receive,  as 
a  guest,  a  detective.  In  a  word,  the  entire  street,  having  be- 
come exclusively  the  domain  of  the  Chancellor,  was  inac- 
cessible to  anyone  having  hostile  designs. 

All  day  a  police  officer  patrolled  the  street;  night  and  day 
sentinels  guarded  the  door  of  the  hotel.  From  the  moment  of 
his  arrival  Herr  von  Bismarck  was  preoccupied  with  the  pro- 
tection of  the  future  Chancellor  of  the  German  Empire  from 


82  The  Real  Bismarck. 

the  dangers  to  which  he  knew  him  to  be  exposed  from  the 
French  or  from  the  Germans  themselves.  At  the  grill  of  the 
hoter  Jesse  was  a  soiled  white  cotton  banner  bearing  the  fol- 
lowing inscription  in  German:  "  Chancellor's  Office  of  the 
Confederation."  This  banner  was  simply  attached  to  the 
trunk  of  a  tree  still  covered  with  its  bark.  In  this,  as  in  many 
other  cases,  if  no  necessary  precautions  were  omitted  to  in- 
sure safety,  no  sacrifices  were  made  to  appearances. 

The  saying  of  Mirabeau  is  well  known:  "  War  is  the  na- 
tional industry  of  Prussia."  Bismarck  at  Versailles  was  him- 
self the  very  soul  of  this  industry;  organizing,  watching  all, 
condescending  to  the  very  smallest  details  of  military  man- 
agement; directing  not  only  the  home — or  main — manufac- 
tory of  the  hotel  Jesse  but  even  the  branch  establishments  in 
Berlin. 

The  almost  superhuman  facility,  according  to  Herr  Busch, 
with  which  the  Chancellor  executed  every  work  of  creation, 
of  assimilation  or  of  criticism;  accomplished  the  most  diffi- 
cult tasks,  knew  instantly  the  real  solution  of  matters,  was 
never  so  admirable  as  during  that  period;  and  that  aptitude, 
which  seemed  inexhaustible,  was  the  more  surprising  be- 
cause he  did  not  have  sufficient  sleep  to  make  up  the  loss  of 
vitality  dispensed  in  such  exceptional  activity. 

As  a  matter  of  fact  we  have  already  spoken  of  his  frequent 
insomnia  and  of  the  banal  causes  to  which  one  is  tempted  to 
attribute  it;  yet  as  he  has  himself  confessed  upon  this 
subject  it  would  be  ungracious  in  us  further  to  insist.  Re- 
tiring very  late,  the  Chancellor  rose  late — toward  ten  o'clock, 
generally,  even  in  the  country,  unless  a  battle  were  planned, 
as  the  battles  ordinarily  were,  to  begin  at  day-break.  At  Ver- 
sailles hardly  was  he  out  of  bed,  often  before  dressing,  when 
he  began  to  read,  to  take  notes,  to  question  his  collaborators 
and  to  assign  them  their  work.  Then  he  took  a  cup  of  tea,  an 
egg  or  two,  and  began  to  write  or  to  dictate.  He  then  ate  no 


The  Old  Emperor  and  his  Chancellor. 


The  Real  Bismarck.  85 

more  until  evening;  taking  tea  again  between  nine  and  ten 
o'clock. 

In  the  afternoon  he  received  visits,  granted  audiences,  made 
his  report  to  the  King  and  attended  to  the  expedition  of  tele- 
grams and  communications  to  the  press.  About  two  or  three 
o'clock,  however,  he  snatched  a  moment  to  breathe,  to  rest, 
to  go  out  on  horseback;  then  returning  to  work,  he  re- 
mained at  it  until  the  dinner-hour,  which  was  between  five 
and  six  o'clock.  He  left  the  table  to  continue  his  tasks,  and 
for  this  reason  dinner  was  to  him  the  only  agreeable  hour 
of  the  day;  a  period  of  expansion,  of  mental  freedom, 
when  the  natural  man,  inclined  to  absurd  sallies,  to  jests  a 
trifle  brutal,  mingled  with  amiable  wits  and  coarse  raillery, 
claimed  all  his  rights. 

At  midnight  the  factory  was  closed  and  all  the  fires  ex- 
tinguished, but  the  master  lingered  later  still,  forging  some 
new  logomachical  arm,  replenishing  in  the  bosom  of  night 
and  of  silence  his  provision  of  diplomatic  "  iron  and  fire." 

Not  a  despatch,  not  a  correspondence,  not  an  article  was 
there  which  did  not  fall  under  his  eyes.  And  unhappy  the 
secretaries  or  journalists  who  had  the  mischance  to  commit 
errors  or  print  truths  of  a  nature  to  displease  him.  At  Cler- 
mont-en-Argonne  he  did  not  hesitate  to  suppress  the  corre- 
spondence of  Louis  Schneider,  the  historiographer  and  prime 
favorite  of  the  King,  accused  and  proved  to  have  displayed 
too  much  zeal.  The  incident  is  worthy  of  relation  and  we 
leave  its  reporting  to  the  German  publicist  himself. 

Chance  would  have  it  that  I  should  encounter  in  the 
street  at  Clermont,  Count  von  Bismarck;  he  addressed  me 
with  his  usual  candour,  telling  me  that  there  had  been  com- 
plaint at  Berlin  of  the  inexactitude  of  which  I  had  been 
guilty.  In  consequence  he  had  ordered  that  no  more  articles 
should  be  received  from  the  same  correspondent  and  it  was 
impossible  for  him  to  revoke  the  order.  Had  he  known  it 


86  The  Real  Bismarck. 

was  I  whom  it  would  affect,  he  might  not  have  taken  the  step ; 
but  what  was  done,  was  done,  and  must  take  its  course.  The 
matter  might  easily  be  arranged,  however,  if  I  would  consent 
to  submit  my  correspondence  to  an  officer  of  the  staff,  who 
would  inspect  it. 

The  journalist  at  first  accepted  this  condition  but  was  not 
long  in  recognizing  that  his  task  was  thereby  rendered  im- 
possible; his  correspondence,  thus  retarded,  when  it  finally 
reached  its  destination  was  found  to  have  been  superseded 
by  special  letters  from  untrammeled  reporters;  his  own  let- 
ters were  therefore  valueless.  "  Besides,"  he  observed, 
"  when  one  must  think  of  the  censor  one  becomes  cold  and 
colorless;  it  is,  too,  an  undertaking  almost  impossible  to  one 
who  has  any  regard  for  his  dignity." 

Upon  the  heels  of  this  avowal  the  good  German  added, 
with  an  ingenuousness  which  makes  one's  hair  rise  and  starts 
the  goose-flesh: 

"  In  spite  of  all,  I  acquitted  myself  zealously  of  my  duty, 
copying  each  article  clearly,  to  be  submitted  to  the  examiner." 

Now  that  we  have  seen  the  unction  with  which  Bismarck 
regulated  the  correspondence  of  the  press  let  us  listen  to  the 
Chancellor's  appreciation  of  the  same  proceeding  when  he 
had  reason  to  suppose  it  indulged  in  by  the  enemy: 

I  have  always  blamed  the  system  of  false  news  or  press 
lies,  of  which  the  Empire  made  so  much  use  and  of  which 
your  Republic  continues  to  make  use  (thus  to  the  Mayor 
of  Versailles).  Of  this  statement  I  can  furnish  you  a  proof — 
the  occasion,  a  combat  which  lately  took  place  at  Hay. 
I  have  the  reports  and  official  pieces  upon  the  losses  expe- 
rienced; in  a  certain  space  upon  the  battle-field,  where  the 
projectiles  from  your  fortifications  fell,  our  troops  buried  the 
dead,  French  and  Germans;  there  were  more  than  four  hun- 
dred and  fifty  French  dead  and  eighty-five  Germans.  That 
is  perfectly  comprehensible;  our  troops,  being  sheltered, 
fired  from  behind  crenelated  walls,  while  your  soldiers  were 


The  Real  Bismarck.  87 

entirely  exposed.  I  do  not  mention  now  the  loss  which  our 
artillery,  of  which  the  exactness  of  aim  is  well  known,  in- 
flicted upon  your  men;  it  is  supposed,  at  least,  to  equal  the 
above  in  number;  we  have  not  been  able  to  verify  it,  because 
the  most  distant  corps  to  be  reached  fell  too  near  to  your 
fortifications  to  be  recovered.  We  may  then,  say;  nine  hun- 
dred French  killed,  against  eighty-five  Germans.  Well! 
your  journals  said:  "  About  four  hundred  French  killed  and 
wounded,  against  more  than  five  hundred  Germans." 

This  declaration  now  appears  the  more  ridiculous  that  we 
know  by  official  documents,  published  in  Germany  itself,  that 
the  estimate  of  the  Germans'  loss  at  Hay  was  in  reality  four 
hundred  men. 

We  owe  to  the  author  of  "  Versailles  pendant  1'occupation," 
already  cited,  a  very  curious  portrait  of  Bismarck  in  robe  de 
chambre,  in  which  the  Colonel  of  cuirassiers  and  his  principal 
attributes  disappear  under  the  folds  of  the  material  like  the 
furniture  in  a  provincial  salon. 

Count  von  Bismarck  was  seated  before  a  table  which 
formed  a  desk,  and  was  covered  with  a  mass  of  papers  among 
which  were  recent  letters  and  journals  from  Paris.  He  was 
enveloped  in  a  large  dressing-gown  of  silk,  and  at  the  con- 
clusion of  the  interview  he  excused  himself  for  the  negligence 
of  his  attire.  The  dressing-gown  was  worn  over  a  military 
uniform.  Upon  the  mantel  was  a  helmet  swathed  in  a  kind 
of  article  like  a  furniture  cover;  this  Herr  von  Bismarck 
lifted  from  time  to  time.  Upon  a  commode  lay  a  revolver. 
This  environment  had  somewhat  the  air  of  being  affected  to 
show  the  alliance  of  the  soldier  and  the  diplomatist. 

It  is  just  to  add  that  Bismarck  was  prostrated  by  an  attack 
of  gout,  which  contributed  not  a  little  to  spoil  for  him  the 
end  of  the  campaign. 

His  double  role  of  diplomatist  and  soldier  in  no  wise  inter- 
fered with  his  solicitude  concerning  the  Berlin  gazettes. 
With  the  intention,  doubtless,  of  stanching  the  wounds 


88  The  Real  Bismarck. 

which  he  might  make,  in  acting  rigorously  against  the  zeal 
of  their  correspondents,  he  willingly  furnished  them  with 
copy.  In  the  course  of  one  of  his  interviews  with  the  Mayor 
of  Versailles,  he  said: 

"  The  point  to  which  the  Imperial  Government  pushed  cor- 
ruption is  incredible.  Documents  found  at  the  Tuileries  are 
most  edifying  as  bearing  out  that  fact;  some  of  the  leaders 
of  the  democratic  party  are  terribly  compromised;  it  will  be 
necessary  to  expose  them  in  our  little  journal." 

And  in  fact  the  "  Nouvelliste  de  Berlin,"  which  inserted  a 
number  of  articles  emanating  from  the  Chancellor's  resi- 
dence, published  en  varietes  during  several  weeks  extracts 
from  papers  stolen  from  the  Tuileries. 


VIII 

The  Journal  of  Count  d'Herisson — Bismarck  Overwhelmed  with 
Praise — Count  d'Herisson  Mistakes  Bladders  for  Lanterns — 
More  Table-Talk — Bismarck  and  Rothschild's  Major-Domo — A 
Little  Impartiality,  if  You  Please — Theory  upon  Cigars — Bis- 
marck and  Garibaldi  —  A  Witty,  but  Vague,  Gesture  —  The 
Chancellor's  Little  Christmas — The  Diplomatist's  Decorations 
— The  Prussians  Quit  Versailles — Mme.  Jesse's  Poultry — The 
Romance  of  a  Clock — Deceptive  Parallel  Between  Stage  "  Prop- 
erties "  and  Historical  Decorations — Bucolic — Bismarck  Pro- 
nounces the  Final  Word. 

In  the  house  of  Mme.  Jesse  took  place  all  the  conferences 
relative  to  the  armistice.  Jules  Favre,  who  negotiated  the 
peace  with  Count  von  Bismarck,  was  habitually  accom- 
panied by  an  officer  of  the  Staff,  M.  le  Comte  d'Herisson. 

The  latter,  who  was  once  invited  to  Bismarck's  table,  has 
left  in  his  "  Journal  of  an  Ordonnance  Officer,"  some  very 
curious  impressions  which  are  worthy  of  being  related. 

The  appreciation  of  M.  d'Herisson  concerning  Bismarck's 
attitude  and  proceedings  at  Versailles  are  inclined  to  be  eu- 
logistic; too  much  so,  in  our  opinion,  coming  from  a  French 
officer. 

After  our  preface  we  can  hardly  be  suspected  of  chauvin- 
ism; we  believe  also  in  moderation  in  all  things,  and  in  un- 
duly exalting  such  a  man  as  Bismarck  there  is  risk  of  win- 
ning his  contempt  and  of  misleading  public  opinion. 

M.  d'Herisson  begins  by  saying: 

Were  three-quarters-and-a-half  of  the  French  publica- 
tions, the  journals  and  the  public  opinion  formed  by  them 
relative  to  the  war  to  be  believed,  Count  von  Bismarck,  the 

89 


go  The  Real  Bismarck. 

Chancellor  of  Prussia,  must  be  not  only  a  kind  of  Richelieu, 
under  whose  will  all  bent,  who  commanded  and  was  account- 
able to  none  for  his  conduct,  but  Bismarck  must  be  a  man  of 
iron;  determined  to  win  every  success;  to  exhaust  victory; 
who  had  planned  our  fall  and  his  own  demands  in  advance; 
whom  nothing  arrested,  who  cared  no  more  for  the  rest  of 
Europe  than  for  a  cherry;  who,  in  a  word,  knew  how  far  he 
might  go  and  would  not  stop  until  he  had  reached  that  point. 
Nothing  is  more  untrue  than  this  conception. 


Count  Herbert  von  Bismarck,  Elder  Son  of  the  Chancellor. 

No  doubt;  but,  also,  nothing  is  more  untrue  than  the 
contrary  conception,  which  is  that  of  M.  d'Herisson,  by 
whom  Bismarck  is  represented  as  a  man  whose  religion  and 
patriotism  dictated  an  exceptional  moderation  corroborated 
by  his  lively  desire  to  cut  short  as  promptly  as  possible  the 
evils  of  the  war,  and  that  out  of  pure  humanity. 

First,  Bismarck  is  not  so  religious  as  M.  d'Herisson  be- 
lieves. I  know  Herr  Busch  pretended  to  have  found  upon 
his  night-table  at  Versailles  pious  books,  which  had  doubt- 
less been  sent  him  by  his  wife;  and  the  historiographer  at 


The  Real  Bismarck.  91 

another  time  relates  that  before  leaving  for  the  war  the 
Chancellor  took  communion;  but  that  proves  nothing. 

For  Bismarck  religion  is  before  all  an  affair  of  sentiment; 
and  one  of  his  own  principles  is  not  to  confuse  sentiment 
and  concerns  of  the  war.  "  In  the  matter  of  war,"  he  has 
many  times  declared,  "  one  must  ask  one's  self  whether  one 
has  or  has  not  an  interest  in  crushing  one's  adversary." 

Now  Germany  undoubtedly  had  an  interest  in  crushing 
France,  but  not  at  its  own  expense.  The  chances  of  a  mortal, 
an  excessive  war  are  occasionally  deceptive  and  Bismarck 
knew  that  in  the  eyes  of  the  German  nation  he  alone  would 
be  held  responsible  for  all  the  German  blood  spilled.  For 
that  reason  was  his  attitude  conciliatory,  his  care  constant 
to  spare  the  life  of  the  simplest  Prussian  soldier,  his  fervent 
desire  to  end  it  at  any  price;  that,  the  cause  of  the  fury  into 
which  he  was  thrown  by  the  resistance  of  Paris  and  later  by 
the  dilatoriness  of  Jules  Favre  and  Thiers. 

That  is  not  humanity,  it  is  diplomacy. 

M.  d'Herisson  seems  to  have  imperfectly  comprehended 
him,  and  he  takes  in  good  faith  replies  like  the  following, 
which  Bismarck  opposed  to  an  apostrophe  by  Jules  Favre, 
asking  him  if  he  did  not  fear  to  exasperate  the  resistance 
of  the  Parisians. 

"  Ah,  you  talk  of  your  resistance !  you  are  proud  of  your 
resistance!  Very  well,  Monsieur,  know  that  if  M.  Trochu 
were  a  German  general  I  should  have  him  shot  this  evening. 
One  has  not  the  right,  do  you  hear?  one  has  not  the  right, 
in  the  face  of  humanity,  in  the  face  of  God,  for  a  vain  mil- 
itary aureole,  to  expose  to  the  horrors  of  famine  as  he  is  this 
moment  doing,  a  city  of  two  million  souls.  The  railway  lines 
are  everywhere  cut.  If  we  be  unable  to  re-establish  them  in 
two  days,  and  it  is  uncertain  that  we  shall  be  able,  a  hundred 
thousand  women  in  Paris  will  die  daily  of  starvation.  Do 
not  talk  of  your  resistance — it  is  criminal!  " 


92  The  Real  Bismarck. 

They  had  begun  that  day  with  the  discussion  of  the 
figure  to  be  contributed  for  the  war.  Bismarck  laughingly 
declared  that  Paris  was  such  a  "  grande  dame"  such  an 
opulent  person,  that  it  would  be  insulting  to  demand  less 
than  a  milliard;  nevertheless  he  consented  to  fix  the  sum  at 
200,000,000  francs. 

The  dinner-hour  arrived  and  covers  had  been  laid  for 
these  gentlemen  at  the  Chancellor's  table.  Jules  Favre  de- 
clined the  honour;  our  captain,  who  had  not  the  same 
scruples,  took  his  place  with  a  dozen  gilded  and  embroidered 
Prussians  who  were  habitual  guests  of  the  master. 

He,  who  sat  in  the  middle  of  the  table,  seated  the  French 
officer  at  his  right: 

I  remember,  says  M.  d'Herisson  in  his  "  Journal,"  that  the 
table,  which  was  well  served  and  garnished  with  the  neces- 
sary quantity  of  massive  silver,  was  lighted  by  only  two 
candles,  stuck  into  the  necks  of  empty  bottles.  Only  this 
detail,  possibly  calculated,  recalled  the  campaign. 

Hardly  was  the  Chancellor  seated  when  he  began  to  eat 
with  a  good  appetite,  the  while  chatting  and  drinking  quan- 
tities, alternately,  of  beer  and  champagne,  from  a  huge  silver 
drinking-cup  engraved  with  his  cipher. 

All  talked  French. 

The  conversation  suddenly  became  most  animated.  Ac- 
cording to  his  custom  Bismarck,  en  passant,  launched  a  few 
sharp  remarks  principally  at  the  proprietor  of  Ferrieres,  or 
rather  at  his  intendant  and  at  Jews  in  general,  for  whom  the 
Chancellor  expresses  but  an  indifferent  esteem. 

Here  let  us,  parenthetically,  explain  the  motive  of  the 
rancour  which  he  nourished  against  Rothschild  and  Roths- 
child's major-domo  during  his  sojourn.  At  the  Chateau  de 
Ferrieres  the  major-domo  had  refused  to  give  out  any  wine, 
although  assured  that  the  requisitions  were  paid. 

Summoned  before  the  Chancellor  he  began  by  saying  that 


The  Real  Bismarck.  93 

he  had  none,  and  ended  by  admitting  that  the  cellars  held 
some  petit  bordeaux.  Bismarck,  furious,  replied  that  so  ill- 
taught  a  person  as  he  was  much  out  of  place  in  a  chateau 
which  the  King  honoured  with  his  presence  and  his  protec- 
tion. Then,  suddenly: 

"  Do  you  know,"  he  added,  what  a  strohbund  is  ?  "  "  As  the 
poor  fellow  could  not  guess,  it  was  explained  that  a  stroh- 
bund is  a  bundle  of  straw  upon  which  it  sometimes  happens 
in  Germany  that  recalcitrant  stewards  are  laid,  with  the  back 
uppermost.  The  rest  goes  without  saying. 

The  unhappy  man  understood,  of  course,  for  from  that 
day  Bismarck's  table  no  longer  lacked  wine. 

After  dinner  Count  d'Herisson,  by  his  own  admission,  de- 
ployed all  the  seduction  of  his  esprit  boulevardier  and  suc- 
ceeded in  pleasing  the  terrible  cuirassier-diplomat  whom  it 
was  necessary  to  propitiate  as  far  as  possible;  the  con- 
ference with  Jules  Favre  was  continued.  The  negotiations 
were  re-opened  sedately,  gently. 

With  astonishing  candour  and  admirable  logic  the  Chan- 
cellor explained  simply  and  sincerely  his  desires.  He  went 
always  straight  to  the  point,  at  every  point  disconcerting 
Jules  Favre,  accustomed  as  an  advocate  to  finesse,  to  dip- 
lomatic jobbing,  and  not  in  the  least  understanding  the  per- 
fect loyalty,  the  superb  manner,  little  conformable  to  the  old 
digressive  fashion  of  treating  such  matters. 

The  Chancellor  expressed  himself  in  French  with  a  facility 
which  I  have  rarely  found  equalled  even  among  the  Rus- 
sians, who  so  promptly  and  felicitously  assimilate  our  lan- 
guage, and  to  whom  the  difficulties  of  their  own  render  the 
study  of  foreign  idioms  only  child's-play.  He  used  expres- 
sions at  once  forceful  and  elegant,  finding  without  seeking 
and  without  effort  the  proper  words  in  which  to  clothe  his 
thought  or  define  a  situation. 

While  drawing  the  pieces  as  they  were  needed  from  the 
ministerial  portfolio,  and  writing  the  notes  as  they  were  dic- 
tated to  me,  I  regaled  myself  with  this  unexpected  lesson  in 
rhetoric  and  conversation. 


94  The  Real  Bismarck. 

It  is  singular  that  in  this  report,  written  by  an  officer  of 
the  French  staff,  it  was  Bismarck  who  had  the  noble  part 
against  Jules  Favre,  described  as  an  artful  dodger  and  a 
jobber. 

The  lesson  in  rhetoric  with  which  the  Count  d'Herisson 
was  regaled  began  by  the  expounding  of  a  subtile  theory 
upon  the  cigar  and  upon  smoking  in  general.  Bismarck 
had  offered  Jules  Favre  Havana  cigars,  which  he  declined. 
The  Chancellor  then  said: 

"  You  are  wrong.  When  a  conversation  is  begun  which 
may  lead  to  discussion,  engender  violence  of  language,  it  is 
better  to  smoke  while  talking.  When  one  smokes,  you  see," 
he  continued,  lighting  the  Havana,  "  this  cigar  which  one 
holds  and  ringers  and  is  careful  not  to  let  fall,  a  little  para- 
lyzes the  physical  movements.  Morally,  without  depriving 
us  of  our  mental  faculties,  it  soothes  us.  The  cigar  is  a1 
diversion;  this  blue  smoke  which  mounts  in  rings  and 
which  the  eyes  involuntarily  follow,  charms  one  into  a  more 
conciliatory  mood.  One  is  happy,  the  sight  is  occupied,  the 
hand  restrained,  the  sense  of  smell  satisfied.  There  is  a  dis- 
position to  mutual  concession ;  and  the  duty  of  us  diplomats 
is  comprised  in  reciprocal  and  incessant  .concession.  You 
have,  you  who  do  not  smoke,  over  me,  a  smoker,  this  ad- 
vantage: you  are  more  wide  awake;  and  a  disadvantage: 
you  are  more  inclined  to  fly  off  at  a  tangent,  to  yield  to  the 
first  impulse,"  he  pursued  with  a  suspicion  of  irony. 

Very  pretty,  truly,  these  aphorisms  of  a  confirmed  smoker 
and  a  man  with  an  excellent  digestion ;  unhappily  Bismarck 
disproved  the  conclusion  of  his  principles  five  minutes  later 
by  boiling  over  like  a  milk  porridge  a  propos  of  Garibaldi, 
whom  he  would  exclude  from  the  peace  that  he  might 
revenge  himself  upon  Italian  ingratitude. 

"  The  Chancellor's  eyes,"  said  the  Count  d'Herisson, 
"  suddenly  flamed  with  savage  anger." 

"I  must  take  him,  nevertheless,"  he  exclaimed;    "for  I 


The  Real  Bismarck.  95 

intend  to  march  him  through  Berlin  with  a  placard  in- 
scribed: 'This  is  Italian  gratitude.'  What!  after  all  we 
have  done  for  those  people?  it  is  monstrous!  " 

At  that  moment  the  Count  d'Herisson  had  a  genial  idea. 

I  then  permitted  myself  a  rather  bold  thing,  but  which, 
toward  a  man  of  distinction  and  especially  of  education  like 
Bismarck,  had  a  chance  of  success,  and  did,  in  fact,  succeed. 
I  took  the  cigar  holder  and  half  smiling,  half  bending  in  an 
attitude  of  respectful  supplication,  I  offered  it  to  him.  For 
a  few  seconds  he  did  not  understand,  then  the  flame  of 
wrath  died  out  of  his  eyes :  "  You  are  right,  Captain,"  he 
said,  "it  is  useless  to  be  angry;  that  serves  nothing — on 
the  contrary!  " 

Garibaldi  and  his  little  army  were  from  that  time  included 
in  the  armistice,  and  we  can  but  felicitate  Jules  Favre  upon 
an  insistence  which  was  well  justified  by  the  devotion  of  the 
patriotic  Italian. 

Until  the  cessation  of  hostilities  the  usine  at  Versailles 
preserved,  within  and  without,  its  air  of  tranquil  provincial- 
ism; except  upon  the  occasion  of  Christmas,  which  Bis- 
marck, as  a  good  German,  could  not  refrain  from  celebrat- 
ing. The  traditional  pine-tree,  decorated  with  toys  and 
candles,  was  erected  in  one  of  the  chambers  of  the  Chancel- 
lor's residence  and  the  entire  household,  including  the  do- 
mestics, the  porter  and  his  children,  were  invited  to  take  part 
in  the  fete,  during  which  there  was  an  abundant  distribution 
of  toys  and  cigars.  Bismarck  himself  had  received  his  little 
remembrance,  the  King  his  master  having  just  conferred 
upon  him  the  order  of  the  Iron  Cross. 

This  Iron  Cross  was  the  only  decoration  which  he  after- 
ward wore,  as  he  had  worn  in  the  Chamber  at  Berlin  only  the 
modest  badge  for  heroism,  presented  to  him  for  having 
saved  his  domestic,  Hildebrand,  from  drowning.  It  is  even 
reported  that  one  of  the  members  of  Parliament,  greatly  con- 


96 


The  Real  Bismarck. 


earned  as  to  the  possible  significance  of  the  badge,  upon 
questioning  Bismarck,  received  the  reply : 

"  What  would  you?  every  one  has  his  caprices;  mine  is  to 
occasionally  save  a  man's  life." 

The  German  biographers  recount  a  propos  of  Bismarck  a 
less  pacific  incident  regarding  his  later  diplomatic  decora- 
tions. 


The  Chateau  of  Friedrichsruh. 

In  the  course  of  a  military  review  which  took  place  at 
Frankfort  during  the  Diet  (1854),  Bismarck,  for  once  depart- 
ing from  his  invariable  custom,  adorned  his  cuirassier's 
uniform  with  all  his  diplomatic  stars  and  other  orders.  An 
Austrian  general  approaching  him,  asked  if  he  had  won  all 
those  decorations  before  the  enemy. 

Whether  the   question  was   an  intentional   sarcasm   or 


Field-Marshal  von  Moltke. 


The  Real  Bismarck.  99 

simple  ingenuousness  is  not  known;  but  it  displeased  Bis- 
marck, who,  looking  the  Austrian  straight  in  the  eyes, 
coldly  replied: 

"  Yes,  Excellency,  all  before  the  enemy,  here,  in  Frank- 
fort." 

The  preliminaries  of  the  peace  signed,  the  Chancellor's 
residence  was  laboriously  prepared  for  the  departure  of  the 
household.  Here  I  borrow  for  the  last  time  from  the  book 
of  M.  Delerot,  facts  noted  the  same  day  from  the  relation  of 
witnesses — principally  Mme.  Jesse; — facts  which  later  stories 
have  somewhat  distorted.  On  the  evening  before  the  de- 
parture of  Bismarck,  March  5th,  having  sent  for  Mme.  Jesse 
he  insisted  upon  her  inspection  of  the  hotel  in  order  that  she 
might  convince  herself  of  the  care  he  had  taken  to  preserve 
the  furniture,  etc.,  from  all  possible  injury. 

"  I  have  respected  even  your  poultry,  although  they  have 
annoyed  me  greatly  at  times."  Yet  upon  seeking  diligently 
no  fowls  were  to  be  discovered ;  the  cook  was  finally  obliged 
to  acknowledge  that  his  Excellency  had  had  them  all  served 
at  table. 

The  tour  of  inspection  continued,  accompanied  by  obser- 
vations by  turn  jesting  and  obsequious  from  Bismarck. 
Mme.  Jesse  next  missed  from  its  place  a  marble  clock,  sur- 
mounted by  a  bronze  statuette  of  a  winged  Satan.  Bismarck 
replied  that  he  had  had  it  removed  to  his  office. 

"  Thiers  detested  that  clock,"  he  continued,  "  we  always 
argued  before  it,  and  at  last  he  exclaimed:  '  That  devil !  that 
cursed  devil ! '  yet  it  was  under  the  wings  of  that  same  devil 
that  we  signed  the  peace.  By-the-way,  do  you  greatly  value 
the  clock?" 

Mme.  Jesse  having  replied  in  the  affirmative  Bismarck  said 
no  more.  The  visit  of  inspection  at  an  end  he  courteously 
reconducted  his  landlady  to  the  Boulevard  de  la  Reine. 

Mme.  Jesse  had  almost  reached  the  Lycee  when  two 


TOO 


The  Real  Bismarck. 


horsemen  joined  her;  one  of  them  dismounting,  said  to  her, 
(here  I  quote  M.  Delerot) : 

"  Madame,  that  clock  which  Herr  von  Bismarck  men- 
tioned to  you,  it  would  give  us  great  pleasure  to  offer  to 
him.  His  Excellency  desires  very  much  to  take  it  with  him 
as  a  souvenir.  Will  you  let  us  have  it?  whatever  the  price, 
provided  it  be  not  a  million,"  they  added,  smiling,  "  we  will 
pay  it." 


Count  von  Hohenlohe. 

Mme.  Jesse  refused  and  drove  on  to  the  railway  station. 

The  request  was  repeated  the  following  day  by  the  Sec- 
retaries of  the  Count,  but  Mme.  Jesse  declined  still  more  de- 
cidedly to  part  with  the  historic  clock.  "  I  am  French,"  she 
said,  "  I  will  neither  give  it  nor  sell  it." 

Toward  nine  o'clock  Herr  von  Bismarck  appeared  before 
the  hotel  to  enter  his  traveling-carriage.  Mme.  Jesse  was 


The  Real  Bismarck.  '  101 

standing  near  but  he  pretended  not  to  see  her.  He  bade 
the  gardener  farewell,  leaving  in  the  man's  hand  as  he 
grasped  it,  fifty  francs,  adding  afterward  forty  more  with  the 
direction  to  use  the  latter  sum  for  necessary  repairs  to  the 
hotel  and  remarking  that  Mme.  Jesse  should  be  satisfied 
therewith. 

The  persons  present  were  not  sufficiently  politic  to  dis- 
simulate their  relief  at  his  departure,  and  Herr  von  Bis- 
marck, glancing  round  him  said  in  a  tone  half  irritated,  half 
ironical : 

"  How  delighted  everyone  here  is  to  see  me  show  my 
heels!" 

As  to  the  clock,  it  remained  in  its  place,  but  still  preoccu- 
pied Herr  von  Bismarck's  thoughts,  for  at  the  last  moment 
he  gave  the  gardener  a  scrap  of  paper,  upon  which  was 
written  his  Berlin  address,  saying: 

"  If  Mme.  Jesse  change  her  mind  here  is  my  address." 

Shortly  after  Bismarck  had  gone  Mme.  Jesse  discovered 
that  from  a  secretary  placed  in  the  private  office  of  Herr 
von  Bismarck,  to  which  none  but  the  superior  officers  had 
access  and  where  the  armistice  was  signed,  had  been  taken 
a  rouleau  of  four  hundred  francs  in  gold,  some  jewels  and  a 
collection  of  rare  money.  Further,  it  was  perceived  that,  if 
the  clock  was  still  there  the  pendulum  had  been  detached; 
this  had  doubtless  been  done  at  the  last  moment  by  one  of 
Bismarck's  officers.  Being  unable  to  offer  his  master  the 
clock  itself  he  had  perhaps  wished  at  least  to  give  him  the 
pendulum  which  had  marked  those  seconds  which  M.  Thiers 
had  so  justly  cursed. 

The  clock,  deprived  of  its  pendulum,  still  marks  the  hour 
at  which  Bismarck  quitted  Versailles. 

As  a  scrupulously  exact  historian  I  considered  it  my  duty 
to  visit  Mme.  Jesse's  hotel,  which,  properly  restored,  bears 
the  number  20 — Rue  de  Provence.  I  was  received  by  Mme. 
Jesse's  own  son,  a  severe  young  man  who  appeared  much 
more  interested  in  the  cultivation  of  his  garden  than  in  con- 
tributing to  the  impartial  examination  of  the  historic 
souvenirs  which  had  fallen  into  his  possession.  He  is  one 


102  The  Real  Bismarck. 

of  those  people  who  forget  each  page  of  existence  as  the 
leaf  is  turned  and  readily  believe  that  all  their  contempo- 
raries share  their  own  disdain  of  history.  M.  Jesse  assured 
us  that  there  existed  in  his  house  no  trace  of  Bismarck's  oc- 
cupation. The  furniture  had  been  entirely  replaced  by  new; 
except,  indeed,  the  famous  clock,  which  was  still  there,  but 
which  did  not  mark  the  historic  hour  as  indicated  by  M. 
Delerot;  which  proves  that  there  are  in  histories  as  in  thea- 
tres, decorations  which  should  not  be  too  closely  examined. 

We  have  just  passed  in  review  the  principal  attitudes  of 
Bismarck  as  a  warrior.  Herr  Busch  shows  us  the  great 
master  of  the  usine  at  Versailles,  possessed,  in  spite  of  him- 
self, by  bucolic  dreams  to  which  he  gave  expression  as  fol- 
lows: 

"  I  had  last  night  for  the  first  time  in  a  long  while  two 
good  hours  of  sleep.  Generally  I  lie  awake,  my  brain  as- 
sailed by  all  sorts  of  disquieting  thoughts ;  then  Varzin  sud- 
denly presents  itself  with  perfect  distinctness,  even  to  the 
minutest  details,  as  a  vast  landscape  in  colour;  green  trees 
with  the  sun  shining  athwart  their  trunks,  the  blue  sky  over- 
head and  each  tree  standing  out  separately.  It  seems  impos- 
sible, in  spite  of  all  my  efforts,  to  escape  from  this  obsession 
until  it  is  dislodged  by  notes,  reports,  despatches,  etc.,  and 
finally  by  sleep  at  day-dawn." 

Bismarck's  also  is  this  final  word  upon  the  inhabitants  of 
the  banlieu  returning  to  their  homes  after  the  capitulation  of 
Paris. 

"  On  my  way  to  Saint  Cloud  to-day,"  he  said  at  table,  "  I 
met  a  number  of  people  carrying  household  utensils  and 
bedding.  The  women  looked  amiable  enough,  but  the  men, 
when  they  saw  our  uniforms,  assumed  a  gloomy  air  and  an 
heroic  pose.  They  recalled  to  me  the  fact  that  formerly 
in  the  Neapolitan  army  there  was  a  singular  regulation. 
Here  we  say:  '  Arms  to  the  right,  for  attack '  ;  the  Neapoli- 


The  Real  Bismarck. 


103 


tans  say:  '  Faccia  feroce! '    With  the  French  all  is  pompous, 
imposing,  theatrical." 

~And  this  same  man,  gifted  with  so  clear  a  perception  of  the 
weaknesses  of  others,  never  realized  that  he,  a  simple  diplo- 
matist, covered  himself  with  ridicule  by  masquerading  as  a 
military  man ;  wearing  throughout  the  campaign  in  France 
a  pointed  helmet  and  top-boots,  an4  not  consenting  to  don 
his  civilian's  dress  until  the  day  following  the  signing  of  the 
peace  preliminaries. 

Always  the  history  of  the  beam  and  the  mote ! 


Medal  Struck  for  the  Eightieth  Anniversary  of  Bismarck's  Birth. 


.      IX. 

Bismarck,  Landed  Proprietor — Friedrichsruh — The  Chancellor's 
Skepticism — His  Literary  Opinions  and  Preferences — Bismarck, 
Orator — His  Tactics  at  the  Sittings  of  the  Reichstag — Elo- 
quence and  Alcoholism — A  Mot  About  Alsace-Lorraine — "  Je 
crains  Dieu,  cher  Abner,  et  n'a  point  d'autre  crainte " — Might 
.  Makes  Right. 

By  the  end  of  the  year  1871  Bismarck,  elevated  to  the 
rank  of  prince,  had  arrived  at  the  apogee  of  his  political  ca- 
reer, and  it  may  be  imagined  that  he  felt  some  pride  in  meas- 
uring the  steps  by  which  he  had  advanced  since  1866.  The 
Chancellor  of  the  new  German  Empire  was,  in  spite  of  his 
political  enemies,  the  most  universally  adulated  of  any  man 
in  Germany.  At  the  same  time  he  was  one  of  the  richest 
land-owners  in  the  country,  and  to  his  domains  of  Schon- 
hausen  and  Varzin — this  last  purchased  with  the  million- 
and-a-half  francs  presented  to  him  by  the  Emperor  William 
for  his  participation  in  the  Austrian  war — he  had  recently 
added  the  estate  of  Friedrichsruh,  which  represents  a  cap- 
ital of  several  millions  previously  deducted  by  the  Emperor 
from  the  five  milliards  of  France. 

We  owe  it  to  truth  to  say  that  this  grandeur  does  not  daz- 
zle the  simple,  nature-loving  man;  in  order  to  be  convinced 
of  it  one  would  do  well  to  read  the  pen-picture  of  Bismarck 
drawn  by  his  childhood's  friend — John  Lothrop  Motley. 

I  extract  the  following  passage  from  a  letter  addressed  by 
Motley  to  his  wife,  dated  July  25,  1872 : 

I  was  surprised  to  find  him  [Bismarck]  little  changed, 
in  appearance,  since  1864.  He  is  somewhat  more  stout,  his 

104 


The  Real  Bismarck. 


105 


features  are  a  trifle  altered  but  no  less  expressive  of  en- 
ergy than  of  old.  Madame  von  Bismarck  is  still  less 
changed  in  these  fourteen  years  since  I  last  saw  her.  Marie 
is  a  delicious  young  girl  with  curling  hair  and  gray  eyes; 
simple,  modest,  valiant  of  heart  like  her  father  and  mother. 
When  we  left  the  table  Bismarck  walked  with  me  in  the 
forest;  a  walk  enlivened  by  his  gay  jests,  his  interesting  re- 


At  Kissingen:    Awaiting  Bismarck's  Appearance. 

view  of  the  terrible  years  just  past.  He  spoke  as  one  would 
of  the  simplest  daily  occurrences,  without  the  least  affecta- 
tion. 

In  the  evening  there  was  a  large  number  of  people  pres- 
ent, drinking  tea,  beer,  Seltzer  water,  while  Bismarck  smoked 
his  pipe.  Formerly  he  smoked  the  strongest  cigars;  now, 
he  tells  me,  he  would  not  smoke  another  to  save  his  life, 
so  repulsive  have  they  become  to  him. 


io6~  The  Real  Bismarck. 

Among  other  things  he  said  that  in  his  youth  he  had 
considered  himself  a  very  cautious  man,  but  that  he  had  al- 
ways been  firmly  convinced  that  none  controls  his  destiny 
and  consequently  that  none  is  truly  great  and  powerful. 
He  could  not  restrain  a  smile  when  he  heard  vaunted  his 
wisdom,  his  prescience  and  the  power  which  he  exercised 
over  the  world's  destiny.  A  man  in  his  situation,  he  said, 
is  forced  to  decree  for  the  neutral  crowd  which  hesitates  to 
prognosticate  either  rain  or  fine  weather  for  the  morrow: 
"  It  will  rain  to-morrow;  or,  the  weather  will  be  fine  ";  and 
to  see  to  it  that  his  predictions  are  realized.  If  he  is  right 
the  world  cries :  "  What  wisdom !  what  a  gift  of  prophecy !  " 
if  wrong,  all  the  old  women  overwhelm  him  with  their 
contempt.  Therefore  life  has  taught  him  modesty  if  it  has 
taught  him  nothing  else. 

The  years  which  followed  count  among  the  fullest  of  Bis- 
marck's career,  from  the  diplomatic  as  from  the  parlia- 
mentary view-point.  It  is  the  general  opinion  in  Germany 
that  Bismarck  is  not,  properly  speaking,  an  orator.  He 
himself  does  not  hesitate  to  admit  that  eloquence  is  not  his 
forte;  excusing  his  lack  of  it  by  remarking  that  an  orator  is 
before  all  else  a  poet,  an  artist,  and  that  such  qualities  are 
incompatible  with  those  which  go  to  the  making  of  a  political 
character.  Bismarck  is  in  no  sense  artistic;  he  hardly  likes 
music  and  is  entirely  indifferent  to  painting;  only  a  fortui- 
tous circumstance,  which  he  relates  in  one  of  his  private  let- 
ters, induced  him  to  visit,  once,  the  art  gallery  in  Berlin. 

In  literature  Bismarck  is  familiar  only  with  romance, 
which  fact  might  almost  pass  for  a  proof  of  intellectual  in- 
feriority had  not  Bismarck  declared  that  he  read  only  for 
distraction,  having  no  time  to  devote  to  books  demanding 
thought.  Before  1870  our  diplomatist  had  a  marked  predi- 
lection for  French  fiction;  for  Feydeau  and  the  two  Dumas; 
he  carried  their  books  upon  all  his  journeys,  even  during 
the  campaign.  The  day  before  the  battle  of  Sadowa  he 


The  Real  Bismarck.  107 

wrote  his  wife  to  send  him  some  French  novels;  it  really 
seemed  that  he  could  conceive  of  no  other  aliment  for  his 
imagination.  Later,  when  the  vogue  of  the  realistic  school 
was  at  its  height,  he  became  an  enthusiastic  admirer  of  Flau- 
bert, Zola,  de  Goncourt,  "  because,"  he  said,  "  they  paint 
in  a  superior  manner  the  corrupt  manners  of  the  French 
nation."  An  English  writer  who  had  the  good  fortune  to 
interview  the  Chancellor  at  that  time  gives  the  result  of  the 
opportunity  as  follows: 

He  smoked  all  the  time,  inviting  me  to  do  likewise;  and 
he  poured  beer  frequently  into  a  mug  which  stood  beside 
him.  Near  at  hand  was  a  pile  of  yellow-covered  French 
novels,  and  when  we  had  finished  speaking  of  the  business 
which  had  procured  me  the  audience,  the  Prince  asked  me 
what  French  romances  I  preferred ;  and  thereupon  launched 
into  a  dissertation  upon  French  literature  which  convinced 
me  that  he  knew  whereof  he  spoke. 

I  was  struck  with  the  facility  with  which  he  accepted  the 
pictures  of  the  romance-writers,  their  most  sombre  delinea- 
tions of  the  social  life  of  France,  as  a  faithful  reproduc- 
tion of  the  customs  of  the  country.  He  believed  French  so- 
ciety corrupt  to  the  marrow,  and  was  incapable  of  rendering 
justice  to  any  of  the  good  qualities  which  distinguish  the 
French.  He  asserted  with  his  characteristic  brusqueness 
that  the  French  had  always  been  inclined  to  bespatter  them- 
selves, and  that  writers  like  Dumas  His  and  Zola,  when  ac- 
cused of  going  too  far,  always  denied  having  exaggerated 
anything  in  their  writings. 

I  replied  that  according  to  that  manner  of  passing  judg- 
ment, if  it  were  necessary  to  estimate  the  English  by  certain 
sensational  novels  of  their  country  one  would  have  to  believe 
English  society  a  motley  collection  of  thieves,  counterfeiters 
and  scamps. 

To  this  Bismarck  replied  with  the  courtesy  which  dis- 
tinguishes him :  "  As  a  matter-of-fact,  thieving  is  the  na- 
tional vice  of  the  English ;  but  it  does  not  produce  atrophy 
of  the  race  as  does  the  propensity  of  the  French  for 


io8  The  Real  Bismarck. 

A  psychological  or  literary  judgment  supported  by  such 
arguments  is  too  open  to  discussion  to  permit  us  to  insist 
upon  its  correctness. 

The  inferiority  of  Bismarck  as  an  orator  explains  why  in 
the  later"  years  of  his  career  the  Chancellor  pronounced  few 
discourses  and  showed  himself  as  seldom  as  possible  at  the 
Reichstag.  In  fact  Bismarck  was  present  only  on  the  days 
when  it  was  necessary  to  defend  the  fundamental  principles 
of  his  policy;  the  one,  for  instance,  of  the  septennial  dura- 
tion of  the  term  of  military  service. 

Since  it  is  impossible  to  sketch  Bismarck  in  the  tribune, 
we  will  reproduce  here  some  paragraphs  of  an  article  by 
Herr  Th.  Zolling,  which  appeared  in  the  "  Nene  freie  Presse  " 
in  1887: 

» 

The  Chancellor  tranquilly  permitted  the  representatives 
of  the  countries  to  speak;  in  the  interval  he  swallowed  an 
absolutely  incredible  quantity  of  water  to  which  he  added  a 
few  drops  of  cognac. 

From  time  to  time  he  trifled  with  his  lorgnette  and  its 
antique  case  which  lay  before  him;  now  and  then  raising 
the  glass  to  his  eye  and  regarding  the  members.  This,  how- 
ever, did  not  prevent  his  listening  attentively  to  the  speeches 
or  taking  notes  in  pencil.  Oh,  that  pencil!  it  was  one  such 
as  one  does  not  see  every  day.  It  was  yellow  and  of  aston- 
ishing length.  I  have  been  told  that  regularly  after  each  ses- 
sion the  pencils  disappeared,  carried  off  by  the  deputies, 
who  gave  them  to  their  wives  as  relics  of  Bismarck.  *  *  * 
The  Chancellor  made  a  sign  to  a  domestic,  and  he  brought 
a  great  black  leather  portfolio  which  he  placed  on  his  mas- 
ter's knees.  Bismarck  took  from  his  pocket  a  bunch  of  keys, 
opened  the  portfolio  and  took  from  it  two  bundles  of  papers, 
one  red,  the  others  blue,  containing  all  the  important  pieces; 
he  chose  one  and  placed  it  before  him  and  looked  at  his 
watch;  for  the  chatterer  upon  the  platform  had  not  finished 
and  the  Chancellor  was  growing  impatient. 

At  last  his  turn  came. 


The  Real  Bismarck.  109 

He  rose  slowly  and  one  experienced  a  curiously  over- 
powering sensation  at  sight  of  that  Hercules  rising  above 
the  table,  so  tall  that  his  fingers  did  not  touch  it.  His  arms 
waved  right  and  left  and  his  hands,  which  alone  betrayed 
his  age,  became  more  tremulous,  seeking  a  support;  they 
pulled  nervously  at  his  moustache,  his  ears,  his  garments,  the 
iron  cross  which  was  the  Chancellor's  only  decoration. 
Again,  he  drew  out  his  handkerchief  and  noisily  blew  his 
nose. 

Speaking  of  his  voice  the  German  journalist  said: 

One  expects  to  hear  a  tone  of  thunder  issuing  from  that 
enormous  chest;  instead,  it  is  a  very  agreeable  baritone; 
gentle  at  first  and  becoming  stronger  after  a  few  sentences. 

His  tone  is  never  solemn  or  pathetic;  only,  it  would  seem, 
an  ordinary  conversation  addressed  to  the  nearer  deputies; 
rarely  reaching  so  far  as  the  legislators. 

A  stenographer  of  the  Reichstag,  who  has  published  his 
memoirs,  expresses  a  somewhat  analogous  opinion: 

It  cannot  be  said  that  Prince  von  Bismarck  is  an  orator. 
It  is  astonishing  to  find  that  this  huge  man  has  a  most  lady- 
like voice;  it  is  particularly  weak  when  the  Prince  is  suffer- 
ing from  a  nervous  affection.  Upon  such  occasions  it  is 
scarcely  audible  and  is  frequently  interrupted  by  a  violent 
cough.  Thereafter  only  detached  sentences  are  heard; 
there  is  no  longer  a  discourse ;  he  is  perfectly  master  of  his 
words  and  I  have  an  idea  that  the  cough  is  useful  in  assist- 
ing him  to  collect  his  ideas  and  produce  an  effect. 

He  begins,  for  instance,  with  a  rather  coarse  phrase,  which 
it  is  expected  will  be  followed  by  one  still  stronger;  not  at 
all!  the  little  cough  opportunely  arrives  and  after  it  comes 
an  expression  which  no  one  could  possibly  have  anticipated. 
Here  is  an  example  which  I  give  from  memory : 

"  I  am  in  the  service  of  the  Emperor.  It  is  a  matter  of  ab- 
solute indifference  to  me  whether  or  not  I  shall  perish  in  that 
service;  and  you,  [a  little  spell  of  coughing]  you  are  probably 
equally  indifferent." 

Everyone  expected  to  hear  launched  a  gross  expression, 
but  no,  the  little  cough  changed  the  course  of  his  ideas. 


no  The  Real  Bismarck. 

The  Deputy  Richter  (continues  Herr  Zolling),  "  the  bete 
noire  of  Bismarck,"  mounted  the  platform  in  his  turn.  He 
resembles  M.  Emile  Zola,  with  his  unattractive  physique 
but  facile  elocution  and  elegant  diction. 

During  the  speaking  of  the  progressionist  deputy  Bis- 
marck seemed  to  be  a  prey  to  some  strong  emotion.  His 
face  changed  colour;  at  first  very  pale,  he  became  crimson; 
his  eyes  appeared  as  if  starting  from  his  head,  then  their 
brilliance  was  quenched.  His  hands  toyed  convulsively  with 
the  pencil  and  from  time  to  time  he  added  some  notes  to 
those  before  him.  Now  and  then  he  attempted  to  take  part 
in  the  general  hilarity,  but  his  laugh  sounded  forced  and 
strident. 

Suddenly  he  sprang  up,  in  the  midst  of  the  uproar  caused 
by  Richter's  speech,  and  pulled  at  his  coat-tails  in  order  to 
make  him  descend  from  the  platform;  precisely  as  though 
he  intended  to  go  at  the  Deputy  "  hammer  and  tongs  "  ; 
his  chest  heaved  violently  and  he  seemed  to  be  making  the 
most  prodigious  effort  to  respire. 

But  while  he  took  an  instant  in  which  to  measure  his  ad- 
versary, in  that  instant  he  became  master  of  himself;  his 
humour  suddenly  changed.  His  natural  gaiety  returned — 
a  smile  lighted  his  countenance;  he  had  regained  complete 
possession  of  himself  and  replied  in  a  bantering  manner  to 
his  adversary,  endeavouring  to  turn  his  speech  into  ridicule; 
every  shot  was  well-aimed,  every  blow  told.  The  oratorical 
battle  ended  amid  shouts  of  laughter. 

Let  us  note  in  passing  that  during  his  occupation  of  the 
platform  Bismarck  poured  for  himself  large  portions  of  a 
mixture  of  cognac  and  water,  carefully  prepared  by  a  group 
of  friends  and  by  Count  Herbert.  On  the  days  of  the  long 
sessions  the  ministers  themselves  superintended  that  matter. 

When  the  fluids  were  combined  the  mixture  was  tasted 
by  each  of  the  group;  some  found  it  too  strong;  quick!  a 
little  water  was  added;  those  who  tasted  of  it  after  that  addi- 
tion considered  it  too  weak;  quick!  a  little  cognac  must  be 
put  to  it;  and  the  gentlemen  were  so  conscientious  about 


The  Artificer  of  German  Unity. 


The  Real  Bismarck.  113 

the  business  that  they  did  not  remark  the  reiterated  appeals 
of  the  Chancellor,  who  was  signing  to  them  that  his  glass  had 
long  been  empty. 

During  the  session  of  February  6,  1888,  Bismarck  drank, 
according  to  Herr  von  Blowitz's  report,  eighteen  glasses  of 
his  favorite  mixture. 

Bismarck  has  a  horror  of  grand  oratorical  effects;  he  does 
not  like  the  orators  themselves  any  better;  "  for/'  he  has 
said,  "  the  least  fault  of  a  man  who  speaks  too  easily  is  to 
speak  too  frequently  and  at  too  great  length."  All  the 
Chancellor's  biographers  are  obliged  to  admit  that  generally, 
instead  of  listening  to  Richter,  as  Herr  Zolling  has  just  said, 
Bismarck  decamped,  not  to  return  until  his  implacable  ad- 
versary had  left  the  platform.  The  Chancellor,  when  re- 
proached for  this  weakness,  excused  himself  by  the  assur- 
ance that  the  personality  and  oratorical  violence  of  Herr 
Richter  affected  him  to  the  very  core  of  his  being;  he  found 
it  impossible  to  overcome  his  distaste. 

The  truth  is,  we  believe,  that  the  faithful  ante  de  chien 
fcodal  of  the  Chancellor  could  not  tolerate  that  liberty  should 
be  so  much  as  mentioned;  the  symbolic  Reichshund  feared 
to  become  mad  and  bite. 

Did  the  deputies  from  Alsace-Lorraine  complain  of  the 
exceptionally  severe  terms  imposed  upon  the  annexed  prov- 
inces, terms  which  were  a  violation  of  the  conscience  and 
the  rights  of  the  people,  Bismarck  replied  with  his  charac- 
teristic humour:  "It  was  not  to  insure  the  happiness  of 
Alsace-Lorraine  that  we  annexed  it.  We  were  forced  to 
break  that  point  of  Wissembourg  which  too  deeply  pene- 
trated our  skin,  and  precisely  upon  that  Alsacian  point  ex- 
ists a  population  which  yields  in  nothing  to  the  Gaul  as  a 
passionate  fighter,  and  which  honours  us  with  a  truly  cordial 
hatred." 

In  short  what  remains  of  the  political  speeches  of  Bis- 


U4  The  Real  Bismarck. 

marck  is  very  little  indeed,  and  it  is  ludicrous  to  see  the 
German  biographers  make  admiring  mention  of  the  ora- 
torical effect  which  consists  in  launching  from  the  platform 
this  defiance  in  the  face  of  Europe:  "  We  Germans,  we  fear 
God,  but  nothing  else  in  the  world! "  (February  6,  1888.) 
A  rhodomontade  which  is  but  a  vulgar  paraphrase  of  the 
famous  verse  of  Racine:  Je  crains  Dieu,  cher  Abner,  et  n'ai 
point  d'autre  crainte") 

As  to  the  well-known  maxim :  "  Might  makes  right," 
which  appeared  in  his  speech  of  January  27,  1863,  Bismarck 
has  himself  declined  to  father  it,  in  the  following  terms : 

The  orator  has  said  that  I  made  use  of  the  words :  "  Might 
makes  right."  I  do  not  remember  having  employed  such  an 
expression.  In  spite  of  the  manifestations  of  incredulity 
with  which  my  denial  is  received,  I  appeal  to  your  memory, 
which,  if  it  be  as  sure  as  mine,  will  tell  you  that  I  expressed 
myself  rather  in  the  following  manner:  I  counselled  com- 
promise, because  without  it  there  must  be  conflict,  that  con- 
flict raised  the  question  of  power,  and  that,  as  the  life  of  the 
State  could  not  be  imperilled,  whichever  possessed  power 
would  be  under  the  necessity  of  using  it.  I  did  not  insist 
that  it  was  an  advantage.  I  do  not  pretend  to  desire  an  im- 
partial judgment  from  you ;  1  wish  only  to  rectify  a  misun- 
derstanding of  my  words. 


X. 

Bismarck  in  1874 — The  Chancellor's  Palace  at  Berlin — Humorous 
Notes  upon  the  French  and  Germans — A  Parliamentary  Even- 
ing in  1879 — The  Lion  is  Old — The  Attempt  at  Kissingen — The 
von  Arnim  Affair — Family  Events — A  Letter  from  the  Chan- 
cellor to  the  Brother  of  his  Stable-Boy—Bismarck's  7oth 
Anniversary — National  Subscription — The  Chateau  of  Schon- 
hausen  and  the  French  Cannon — Some  Original  Gifts — Bis- 
marck Weeps. 

We  owe  to  the  pen  of  M.  Maurice  Jokai,  the  Hungarian 
novelist,  some  notes  concerning  the  Bismarck  of  1874, 
whom  the  writer  visited  at  the  Chancellor's  palace  in  Berlin : 

Nothing  is  more  simple  and  easy  than  to  meet  Prince  von 
Bismarck.  The  palace  is  the  least  pretentious  place  upon 
the  Wilhelmstrasse,  and  the  door  is  not  guarded  by  majestic 
Swisses  armed  with  a  mass  of  silver.  One  must  ring — 
neither  more  nor  less  is  needed.  The  antechamber  is 
lighted  by  a  single  lamp  upon  a  table.  I  crossed  two  salons 
before  reaching  the  Chancellor's  study,  in  which  he  receives 
his  callers.  The  furnishing  is  very  modest:  in  the  corner  is 
an  iron  bed,  upon  which  was  stretched  a  great  Saint  Bernard; 
near  the  window  is  an  iron  strong-box;  in  the  middle  of  the 
room  an  immense  desk,  before  which  the  Chancellor  was 
seated. 

He  motioned  me  to  a  place  upon  the  other  side  of  the^desk 
and  opened  a  drawer  from  which  he  took  a  bunch  of  cigars 
and  offered  them  to  me.  I  thanked  him,  but  I  do  not  smoke. 
He  himself  never  smokes  a  cigar,  but  confines  himself  en- 
tirely to  his  great  meerschaum.  At  this  moment  a  door 
opened  and  the  Princess  appeared  accompanied  by  her 
daughter;  they  were  going  to  a  ball  at  Court  and  had  come 
to  take  leave  of  the  head  of  the  family.  Bismarck  kissed 

115 


n6  The  Real  Bismarck. 

them  patriarchally,  and  charged  his  wife  to  present  his  re- 
spects to  their  Majesties. 

In  the  course  of  that  audience  Bismarck  expressed  him- 
self with  his  customary  candour  concerning  the  French: 
"  The  French  are  savages ;  take  away  the  cook,  the  tailor 
and  the  hair-dresser  and  only  the  red-skin  will  be  left."  It 
would  be  curious  to  imagine  what  would  remain  of  the 
Prussians  after  removing  these  same  elements  of  civilization, 
including  those  who  constitute  its  national  industry  accord- 
ing to  Mirabeau. 

It  may  be  added  that  in  the  course  of  this  same  interview 
Bismarck  showed  hardly  more  tenderness  toward  a  num- 
ber of  his  compatriots  who  had  emigrated  to  Russia — and 
elsewhere. 

"  I  have  frequently  hunted  in  Russia,"  he  said,  "  and  have 
often  heard  repeated  this  proverb:  '  If  a  Russian  steals,  he 
steals  sufficient  to  last  his  own  life;  but  if  a  German  steals 
he  takes  enough  for  his  children  to  have  afterward.'  "  (Of 
which  we  had  proof  in  1871.)  This  is  the  moment  at  which 
to  say  a  few  words  of  the  Parliamentary  receptions  and 
frilhschoppen  [morning  chop]  which  are  celebrated  in  the 
history  of  the  political  cuisine  of  the  time.  They  were  gen- 
erally intimate  reunions  when  the  man  of  iron,  unbending 
from  the  official  formality  of  the  Imperial  Chancellor,  be- 
came malleable;  sought  to  win  over  the  lukewarm  and  the 
hesitating  by  a  kind  of  affable  good  fellowship. 

The  "  frilhschoppen  "  especially,  offered  such  Platonic  ad- 
versaries as  Windhorst,  a  neutral  territory  whereon  to  dis- 
pute without  pulling  of  noses;  the  keg  of  brown  Bavarian 
beer  about  which  they  gathered  finally  succeeding  in  con- 
ciliating opinions  the  most  divergent. 

Of  the  same  kind  were  the  Parliamentary  receptions 
which  followed  the  intimate  dinners,  veritable  tobacco  par- 


The  Real  Bismarck.  117 

liaments,  the  Germans  called  them,  which  lasted  late  into 
the  night,  and  at  which  Bismarck,  as  a  humorist  pecul- 
iarly well-broken  to  the  gymnastics  of  familiar  conversa- 
tion, must  have  scored  his  most  felicitous  oratorical  suc- 
cesses. 

A  German  writer,  Herr  Fedor  von  Koppen,  has  described 
in  detail  one  of  those  evenings — that  of  May  3,  1879,  when 
Bismarck  was  his  most  seductive  self.  The  Chancellor  stood 
in  the  yellow  salon  to  receive  his  guests.  His  two  sons,  Her- 
bert and  Wilhelm,  aided  him,  when  he  was  unassisted  by  the 
Princess  and  her  daughter,  the  Countess  Marie,  who  had 
become  a  woman  distinguished  for  her  intelligence  and 
wit.  The  guests  were  then  led  into  the  large  salon,  where 
the  candlelight  lent  a  warmer  tone  to  the  severe  furniture 
of  the  Renaissance  and  to  the  green  and  gold-leaved  tapestry 
upon  the  walls.  All  the  men  were  in  evening  dress.  Those 
wearing  uniforms  constituted  themselves  squires  of  dames, 
following  the  device:  "  Amour  a  la  plus  belle,  honneur  au  plus 
vaillant"  (sic). 

Bismarck  took  his  place  at  a  little  ebony  table  and  was 
soon  surrounded  by  an  enthusiastic  audience  of  deputies  and 
political  men;  and  the  Chancellor  began  to  joke  and  chat 
with  the  joviality  which  is  natural  to  him  when  with  his 
intimates — touching  upon  one  subject  after  another,  min- 
gling politics,  sports,  hunting  adventures,  etc.  A  subject 
particularly  dear  to  him,  and  of  which  he  was  never  weary, 
was  his  childhood  and  youth;  his  student's  escapades,  his 
duels  and  the  number  of  days  of  incarceration  to  which  he 
submitted  at  Gottingen. 

Suddenly  a  detonation  was  heard  from  the  adjoining 
room.  All  rushed  in,  to  find  that  a  guest  had  been  impru- 
dently handling  a  fire-arm  which  he  was  examining  and  it 
had  exploded.  No  one  was  injured,  although  the  ball  had 
just  grazed  a  deputy  who  was  standing  near.  Bismarck 


ii8  The  Real  Bismarck. 

was  no  sooner  assured  of  this  than,  seizing  a  glass,  he 
smilingly  proposed  a  toast  to  the  deputy  who  had  so  fortu- 
nately escaped  "  the  attack  of  chance." 

The  Deputy  Windhorst  was  present  at  this  reception  and 
Bismarck  was  particularly  amiable  to  his  adversary.     At 


The  Saw-mills  at  Varzin. 

ten  o'clock,  as  usual,  the  guests  were  served  an  abundant  col- 
lation, while  in  a  corner  of  the  room,  under  some  orange 
trees,  were  placed  two  casks  of  Munich  beer  (Franciscan 
brewery) ;  Bismarck,  who  has  never  been  known  to  resist  an 
opportunity  to  pun,  presented  these  casks  in  the  following 
words:  "  Gentlemen,  I  especially  recommend  this  brewing; 
since  the  wind  has  turned,  concerning  Rome,  the  Francis- 
cans send  me  of  their  choicest."  Such,  in  a  few  words,  were 


The  Real  Bismarck. 


119 


the  every-day  incidents  of  a  reception  at  Bismarck's,  inci- 
dents which  the  comic  journals  of  the  day  eagerly  seized  and 
commented  upon. 

As  a  matter  of  fact  Bismarck  was  then  the  only  great  man 
among  the  Berliners,  who  swore  only  by  him.    His  most  in- 


The  Paper-mills  at  Varzin. 

significant  sayings  and  doings  were  important  to  them. 
Fanatics  followed  his  slow-moving  carriage.  The  people 
might  chaff  about  the  old,  ill-varnished  van  and  smile  at  the 
faded  blue  livery  of  the  coachman,  it  was  their  Bismarck 
who  was  passing  and  they  were  only  too  happy  to  salute 
him  with  a  "  hoch! " 


I2O  The  Real  Bismarck. 

It  is  singular  that  while  his  popularity  augmented,  his 
political  authority  diminished. 

The  Opposition  was  beginning  to  strengthen  in  the  Reichs- 
tag, and  to  undermine  the  foundation  of  the  colossus  of  iron. 
This  man,  who  was  approaching  his  sixtieth  year,  saw  by 
little  and  little  his  warmest  political  friends  drifting  away 
from  him;  even  Maurice  von  Blankenburg  and  Thadden 
Thriglaff — and  many  more.  "  The  lion  is  getting  old,"  they 
said;  "  he  is  losing  his  teeth."  A  few  years  more  and,  aided 
by  the  accession  of  William  II.,  they  were  able  to  pare  his 
claws. 

On  July  13,  1874,  Bismarck,  who  was  at  Kissingen,  in 
Bavaria,  to  take  the  waters  for  his  rheumatism,  escaped  al- 
most miraculously  the  ball  of  one  Kullmann,  who  pre- 
tended that  he  wished  to  punish  in  Bismarck  the  promoter 
of  religious  persecution  in  Germany.  (After  this  attempt, 
the  city  of  Kissingen  raised  to  him  an  iron  statue  which  was 
unveiled  in  1877.  Even  to  the  present  time  the  ex-Chancel- 
lor has  continued  his  annual  visits  to  Kissingen.  The 
avenue  in  which  the  attack  occurred  bears  his  name.) 

Everywhere  became  aroused  a  resistance  which  was  sooner 
or  later  to  exhaust  his  power.  He  opposed  Count  Henri 
von  Arnim,  the  new  Ambassador  from  Germany  to  Paris, 
who,  in  his  turn,  as  stubbornly  opposed  the  views  of  the 
Chancellor.  The  conflict  was  terminated  by  the  suppressing 
of  the  unfortunate  von  Arnim,  who  was  condemned  by  the 
Supreme  Court  to  six  years'  imprisonment,  for  having  se- 
cured some  diplomatic  documents  belonging  in  the  archives. 

In  June,  1875,  the  Chancellor  retired  to  Varzin,  firmly  re- 
solved to  disengage  himself  for  a  time  from  European  pol- 
itics. Indeed,  the  state  of  his  health  was  such  that  it  was 
only  by  strict  obedience  to  the  regime  prescribed  by  Pro- 
fessor Schwenninger,  the  physician  employed  by  him  some- 
what later,  that  the  progress  of  the  malady  which  threat- 


The  Real  Bismarck.  121 

ened  to  undermine  his  health  was  effectually  staid.  (We 
shall  have  occasion  again  to  speak  of  the  physician  who  is 
to-day  one  of  the  medical  celebrities  of  Germany.) 

Exhausted  by  the  continual  warfare  which  he  was  obliged 
to  maintain  in  order  to  insure  the  triumph  of  the  anti-liberal 
theories  of  which  he  was  the  champion,  fatigued,  doubtless, 
by  the  weight  of  a  career  so  contrary  to  his  bucolic  aspira- 
tions, he  resigned  from  the  chancellorship.  The  Emperor 
replied  to  the  proffered  resignation  with  a  "  Never!  "  which 
found  an  echo  in  many  a  German  heart.  But  this  word,  it 
seems,  was  pronounced  only  for  the  gallery,  so  to  speak. 
Privately,  the  matter  was  more  simply  treated;  it  even 
furnished  Bismarck  with  a  mot  truly  piquant. 

The  Emperor,  remonstrating  against  the  decision  of  his 
old  servant,  said: 

"Eh!  what?  you  pretend  to  be  fatigued,  overworked, 
too  old — what  not!  Look  at  me!  I  am  much  older  than 
you  and  I  still  ride  horseback."  "  No  doubt,  Sire ;  that  is 
natural;"  replied  Bismarck,  "the  rider  always  outlasts  his 
mount." 

In  the  year  1878  one  of  the  events  in  the  family-life  of 
Bismarck  was  the  marriage  of  his  daughter,  the  Countess 
Marie,  to  Count  Kuno  von  Rantzau;  a  marriage  which,  a 
year  later,  gave  him  the  additional  happiness  of  being  for 
the  first  time  a  grandfather. 

Upon  the  general  condition  of  the  family  in  1881-82,  we 
find  some  details  in  a  letter  written  (December  27,  1881)  by 
the  Chancellor  to  the  brother  of  his  old  valet  d'ecurie,  Hilde- 
brand;  the  same  whose  life  the  Lieutenant  Bismarck  had 
saved.  Hildebrand  had  just  died  in  America,  and  his 
brother,  who  also  was  there,  wrote  to  apprise  the  Chancellor 
of  the  fact.  The  reply  is  worthy  of  being  reproduced,  de- 
noting as  it  evidently  does,  in  the  man  of  iron,  apart  from 
a  simplicity  and  natural  ingenuousness  which  have  already 


122  The  Real  Bismarck. 

been  noted,  certain  qualities  of  heart  of  which  he  ap- 
pears to  be  little  prodigal  beyond  the  limits  of  the  family 
circle. 

My  dear  Hildebrand: 

Your  letter  is  received  and  I  am  happy  to  learn  that  you 
are  well,  although  destiny  has  not  spared  you  affliction. 
Your  brother  was  older  than  I  thought.  In  1851  your  wife 
was  a  quite  young  girl,  she  cannot  then  be  very  old;  I  am 
glad  to  know  that  you  are  living  happily  with  her,  and  that 
she  sometimes  thinks  of  Germany.  Augusta  must  have  be- 
come a  fine  Yankee.  With  me  all  is  going  well,  in  so  far 
that  all  my  family,  thank  God,  are  living  and  in  good  health, 
and  my  daughter  has  presented  me  with  grandchildren. 

My  sons,  to  my  great  regret,  are  not  yet  married,  but  they 
are  well,  thank  God !  I  cannot  at  this  moment  say  as  much 
for  my  wife,  still  less  for  myself.  I  no  longer  hunt  nor  ride 
— finding  both  exercises  too  exhausting.  If  I  do  not  soon 
decide  to  take  some  rest  my  vital  forces  will  hold  out  but 
little  longer. 

What  is  your  age?  and  how  do  you  occupy  yourself? 
supposing  you  have  not  retired  from  business.  You  may 
tell  your  wife  that  Lauenburg  is  prospering;  I  was  there  in 
the  autumn  for  the  first  time  in  thirty  years  and  was  pre- 
sented with  the  freedom  of  the  city;  upon  the  strength  oi 
which  I  send  special  greeting  to  your  wife. 

The  two  sons  of  the  Chancellor  in  their  turn  shared  the 
Imperial  favour.  Count  Herbert  was  given  a  colonelcy, 
Count  Wilhelm  was  made  Commander  of  a  squad.  The 
former,  besides,  became  under-Secretary  of  State  at  the 
Ministry  of  Foreign  Affairs.  The  second,  who  embraced  a 
governmental  career,  was  granted  a  kind  of  prefecture. 
About  the  same  time  the  Emperor  solemnly  conferred  upon 
the  soldier-statesman  the  military  order  for  merit;  the  only 
German  order  which  he  did  not  possess,  and  which  made  the 
forty-eighth  decoration  which  had  been  awarded  to  the 
Prince  in  the  course  of  his  career.  From  that  moment  it 
would  seem  as  though  Bismarck's  popularity  increased  in 


The  Real  Bismarck.  123 

proportion  to  the  number  of  his  enemies.  To  celebrate  the 
seventieth  anniversary  of  his  birth  (April  i,  1885),  the  Ber- 
liners  organized  a  monster  fete,  truly  national,  which  was  to 
be  repeated  each  successive  year.  The  Government  itself 
set  the  example.  The  Emperor,  accompanied  by  the  princes, 
presented  himself  at  the  palace  in  the  Wilhelmstrasse,  to  of- 
fer his  congratulations  to  his  old,  servant  and  to  embrace 
him;  Bismarck  afterward  received  the  ministers,  the  depu- 
ties of  his  party  and  deputations  from  all  the  business  asso- 
ciations in  Berlin.  Among  the  gifts  and  compliments  which 
consecrated  this  unforgettable  birthday  fete,  which  even  that 
of  1895  could  not  surpass,  must  be  named  as  of  greatest  con- 
sequence the  national  subscription  of  2,700,000  marks. 
With  a  portion  of  this  sum  the  German  people  had  re- 
purchased the  seigneurial  domain  of  Schonhausen,  of  which 
the  Bismarcks  had  been  obliged  to  dispose  during  the  hard 
times;  the  remainder,  about  a  million  marks  in  specie,  was 
presented  to  the  Chancellor  to  do  with  as  he  would. 

The  seigneurial  domain  of  Schonhausen,  the  new  one,  so 
to  speak,  is  about  three  times  the  extent  of  the  original  es- 
tate. The  chateau,  built  in  1734,  as  indicated  by  the  es- 
cutcheon surmounting  the  grand  portal,  is  architecturally 
more  elegant  than  the  old  one,  and  its  arrangement  is  more 
comfortable.  A  rose  garden  extends  along  the  principal 
front.  On  the  day  upon  which  -the  Chancellor  re-entered 
into  possession,  he  paused  upon  the  threshold  and  said: 
"  Here  I  often  played  with  Hedwig  a  la  vie  a  la  mort,  an 
amusing  game  in  which  whoever  was  killed  continued  none 
the  less  joyously  to  play  his  part." 

With  the  disdain  for  comfort  which  characterizes  him, 
Bismarck  has  never  occupied  his  new  possession — to-day 
transformed  into  a  museum.  During  the  rare  and  brief 
visits  which  he  has  since  paid  to  Schonhausen,  he  has  always 
stopped  at  the  old  patrimonial  chateau.  It  is  upon  the 


124 


The  Real  Bismarck. 


little  terrace  bordered  with  century-old  lindens,  which  ex- 
tends along  the  front  of  the  older  mansion,  that  he  has 
placed  the  five  French  cannon  with  which  William  I.  pre- 
sented him  after  the  war  of  1870-71. 

These  five  cannon  are:    the  Navarin,  from  the  arsenal 


The  Terrace  at  Schonhausen,  with  the  French  Cannon  taken  in  1870. 

at  Douai,  1745,  taken  at  La  Fere;  the  Ravissant,  from 
the  arsenal  at  Douai,  1713,  taken  at  Soissons.  The  car- 
riages belonging  to  these  two  pieces  are  ornamented  with  a 
heraldic  sun  with  scattered  rays,  and  the  device :  "  Plttribus 
nee  impar";  the  Autoritc,  a  campaign  piece,  founded  at 
Douai  in  1856,  ornamented  with  an  "  N  "  and  the  Imperial 
crown,  from  Metz;  the  Champion,  a  campaign  piece  from 


Bismarck  and  his  Son  Herbert. 


The  Real  Bismarck.  127 

the  arsenal  at  Strasbourg,  1862,  taken  from  the  suburbs 
of  Paris;  and  a  mitrailleuse,  the  General  Mains,  from  the 
arsenal  at  Douai,  1866,  also  ornamented  with  the  Imperial 
cipher,  and  taken  after  the  capitulation  of  Sedan.  As  to  the 
individual  gifts  received  by  the  Chancellor  upon  this  tri- 
umphant occasion,  it  is  impossible  to  enumerate  them.  A 
brewer  sent  the  Prince  a  cask  of  Bavarian  beer,  the  cask 
weighing  two  hundred  and  fifty  kilos  and  containing  one 
hundred  and  fifty  liters  of  beer.  A  Herr  Edenhofer  von 
Regen — an  original,  he! — -sent  him  an  enormous  organ- 
pipe,  attuned  to  la,  with  an  address,  saying  that  the  Chancel- 
lor had  never  had  need  of  a  diapason  by  which  to  accord  the 
violins  of  the  European  concert  but  should  this  diapason 
ever  be  lacking  the  sender  would  be  happy  to  know  that  his 
instrument  had  been  of  service.  Organs,  it  seems,  are  the 
instruments  best  appreciated  by  musical  Germans.  Bis- 
marck himself,  so  little  master  of  arts  in  general,  has,  it  is 
said,  a  weakness  for — barrel-organs.  He  even  one  day  pre- 
sented one  to  the  eldest  son  of  the  present  Emperor.  Going 
to  visit  at  the  Palace,  upon  the  day  following  his  arrival  he 
observed  that  the  little  Prince  had  not  acquired  the  "  knack  " 
of  turning  the  handle. 

"  I  will  give  you  a  lesson,"  said  he;  and  shouldering  the 
organ  he  ground  out  an  air  with  amazing  gusto,  while  the 
little  Princes  began  to  dance. 

Prince  William  arriving  upon  the  scene,  regarded  it  as- 
tonished; then  smiling  at  Bismarck  he  said:  "Perfect! 
these  little  Emperors  of  the  future  are  already  dancing  to 
your  music! " 

The  anniversary  of  1885  brought  more  serious  gifts. 

From  Constantinople  arrived  a  Turkish  sabre  incrusted 
with  precious  stones;  an  historic  arm  which  had  belonged 
to  Ali,  Pasha  of  Janina;  upon  the  blade  is  the  Arabic  in- 
scription :  "  Happy  he  who  perishes  by  this  sword :  .death 


128  The  Real  Bismarck. 

by  so  perfect  a  blade  will  seem  sweet  to  him."  Bismarck 
laughed  at  this  device  and  declared  that  according  to  his 
notions  a  long  life  was  preferable  to  the  most  artistic  death 


Bismarck. 

by  violence;  he  should  therefore  endeavour  to  preserve  both 
his  life  and  the  arm  which  might  deprive  him  of  it. 

A  number  of  inhabitants  of  the  Harz  Mountains  sent  him 
an  enormous  pipe  of  most  delicate  workmanship,  accompa- 
nied by  a  quatrain  in  which  the  desire  was  expressed  that 


The  Real  Bismarck.  129 

the  Chancellor  would  smoke  in  it  tobacco  cultivated  in  the 
German  colonies.  This  pipe  has  long  been  the  Prince's 
favorite,  but  it  is  doubtful  if  he  has  invariably  observed  the 
wish  of  its  donors.  Finally  Tyras,  the  celebrated  Reichs- 
hund,  received  for  his  personal  use  and  decoration  divers 
lots  of  collars  and  blankets — even  a  canopy. 

This  first  of  April  was  marked  by  another  happy  event,  a 
purely  family  affair — the  announcement  of  Count  Wilhelm's 
betrothal  to  his  cousin  Sybil  von  Arnim,  the  daughter  of  that 
Malvina  to  whom  her  brother,  Otto  von  Bismarck,  addressed 
so  many  tender  and  witty  letters.  The  marriage  was  cele- 
brated on  July  6th  of  the  same  year  at  Kroechlendorf;  the 
Countess  Wilhelm  von  Bismarck  is  now  the  mother  of  three 
children. 

The  years  1885  and  1887  were  marked  by  some  sensa- 
tional speeches  delivered  at  the  Reichstag,  where  the  Chan- 
cellor rarely  appeared  except  when  it  became  necessary 
to  speak  in  defence  of  the  military  budget  or  to  insure  the 
consolidation  of  troops  for  the  national  defence.  His  fur- 
loughs were  passed  at  Friedrichsruh,  Kissingen  and  Varzin, 
where  he  occupied  himself  in  rebuilding  his  paper-factory, 
which  had  been  destroyed  by  incendiarism. 

Then  came  1888 — a  year  of  mourning  and  affliction;  the 
sad  prelude  to  his  fall  being  the  death,  at  an  interval  of  three 
months,  of  the  first  two  German  emperors — the  old  William 
and  his  successor  Frederic.  On  the  day  of  the  death  of  Will- 
iam I.,  the  Reichstag,  immediately  assembled,  witnessed  the 
spectacle  of  Bismarck  sobbing  on  the  platform.  The_Jron — 
Chancellor  wept  the  death  of  his  august  master,  but  perhaps 
also — prophet  that  he  was,  accustomed  to  read  the  future,  to 
interpret  the  mysterious  signs  of  fate — wept  he  for  himself 
and  his  work. 


XL 


Court  Holy  Water — Bismarck  Offered  the  Diploma  of  a  Doctor  of 
Theology — The  Gods  Abandon  Him — His  Farewell  to  Fon- 
tainebleau — The  "  Good  Friends  "  are  Turn-Coats — A  Good 
Impulse  of  the  Emperor — The  Bottle  of  Steinberger — Tri- 
umphant Return  to  Berlin,  and  Platonic  Reconciliation — The 
Patriarch  of  Friedrichsruh — Death  of  Mme.  von  Bismarck — 
The  Both  Anniversary — A  New  Edition  of  the  National  Fete  of 
1885— The  Sabre  of  the  "  Fear  of  God "  Allegorizing  the 
Sword  of  Damocles — Popular  Gifts  and  Homage. 

The  accession  of  William  II.  to  the  Imperial  throne  did 
not  at  first  appear  to  affect  the  modus  vivendi  of  the  Iron 
Chancellor.  The  young  Emperor  announced  to  the  entire 
world  his  firm  determination  to  worthily  succeed  his  grand- 
father. He  even  seized  the  occasion  of  December  3ist  to 
send  the  "  dear  Prince  "  the  warmest  assurances  of  his  friend- 
ship, asking  all  the  blessings  of  heaven  upon  him  and  hop- 
ing, he  said,  that  for  yet  many  years  they  might  work  to- 
gether for  the  grandeur  and  prosperity  of  the  country. 

But  the  diplomatic  Bismarck  even  then  divined,  under  all. 
this  rhetoric,  the  presence  of  a  man  who  was  to  fight  him 
upon  his  own  ground,  with  his  own  arms ;  an  Emperor  who 
proposed  to  govern  by  himself,  and  who  at  least  cherished 
the  secret  ambition  of  being  his  own  chancellor. 

Just  here  may  be  mentioned  a  fact  which  borrows  from  its 
date  (November  10,  1888)  a  character  of  providential  irony. 
Upon  that  date,  which  marks  the  anniversary  of  Luther,  the 
Chancellor  was  awarded  the  diploma  of  Doctor  of  Theology 
by  the  University  of  Giessen.  In  the  way  of  consolation  for 

130 


The  Real  Bismarck.  131 

the  approaching  crisis,  which  was  to  send  the  man  of  the 
KuUur-Kampf  back  to  private  life,  it  was  perhaps  a  trifle 
inadequate. 


Bismarck  after  his  Dismissal. 


Another  irony  of  Destiny  shows  us  Bismarck,  for  the  first 
time  in  his  life,  deceived  in  his  habitual  calculations  and  pro- 


132  The  Real  Bismarck. 

claiming  his  confidence  in  his  star  at  the  very  moment  of 
its  setting;  at  the  instant  when  the  propitious  gods  were 
about  to  abandon  him. 

In  October,  1889,  at  tne  conclusion  of  an  interview  which 
Bismarck  had  had  with  the  Emperor  Alexander  III.  of  Rus- 
sia, the  latter  said  to  him :  "  I  should  like  to  believe  you  and 
I  have  perfect  confidence  in  you ;  but  are  you  sure  that  you 
will  retain  your  post?  " 

"  Certainly,  yes,"  replied  Bismarck;  "  I  am  absolutely 
sure;  I  shall  remain  minister  until  my  death." 

Five  months  later  Bismarck  abdicated. 

I  designedly  employ  the  word  "  abdicated,"  because  the 
retirement  of  the  Chancellor  was  of  the  character  and  im- 
portance of  an  abdication.  The  pretext  alleged  by  William 
II.  was  lack  of  accord  between  his  Chancellor  and  himself 
concerning  the  interpretation  of  certain  articles  in  the  Con- 
stitution of  1852. 

On  March  20,  1890,  Bismarck  was  obliged  to  send  in  his 
resignation  to  the  Emperor,  although  on  the  first  of  Janu- 
ary of  the  same  year  the  Emperor  had  despatched  to  the 
Prince  assurances  of  his  unalterable  gratitude,  accompanied 
by  the  expression  of  fervent  hopes  of  their  continued  excel- 
lent understanding  and  collaboration. 

The  same  protestations  are  repeated,  indeed,  in  the  letter 
in  which  his  resignation  was  accepted,  and  which,  while  de- 
priving him  of  all  his  functions,  at  the  same  time  made  Bis- 
marck Duke  of  Lauenburg  and  Lieutenant-General  of  Cav- 
alry, with  the  rank  of  Field-Marshal. 

On  March  26th  Bismarck  said  farewell  to  the  Emperor 
and  to  the  Imperial  family.  The  Berliners  profited  by  this 
occasion  to  give  him  an  indescribably  enthusiastic  ovation. 
His  landau  was  besieged  and  bombarded  with  flowers,  and 
the  tumult  at  one  moment  became  so  excessive  that,  the 
horses  threatening  to  bolt,  Bismarck  was  obliged  to  descend 


The  Real  Bismarck.  135 

from  his  carriage  to  the  bridge  which  led  to  the  Imperial 
Palace. 

Some  days  later  he  had  an  interview  with  his  successor, 
General  von  Caprivi;  an  interview  in  the  course  of  which 
the  Prince  is  said  to  have  said,  in  French,  to  the  new  Chan- 
cellor: "  La  Roi  me  reverra"  This  prediction,  in  its  threat- 
ening sense,  has  not  been  realized,  and  it  should  be  added 
that  Bismarck  afterward  denied  its  authenticity  in  the  Ham- 
burger Nachrichten. 

The  Prince  did  not  wish  to  leave  the  capital  without  tak- 
ing leave  for  the  last  time  of  the  tomb  of  the  old  Emperor. 
He  went  to  Charlottenburg,  and,  descending  into  the  crypt 
of  the  mausoleum,  laid  some  flowers  upon  the  coffin  of  the 
man  whom  he  had  made  a  glorious  and  powerful  Emperor. 
This  pious  pilgrimage  was  made  on  March  28th.  On  the 
same  day  Bismarck  took  formal  leave  of  Count  von  Moltke. 
The  final  departure  took  place  so  precipitately  that  the  Ger- 
man journals  declared  that  the  Chancellor  had  not  been 
given  the  time  necessary  to  effect  his  removal  in  proper 
form;  hence  the  loss  of  numbers  of  objects  of  value;  in 
short,  his  departure  might  be  compared  "  to  that  of  a  Ger- 
man family  expelled  from  Paris  in  1871."  An  enormous 
crowd  accompanied  the  landau  to  the  station,  where  again 
burst  forth  the  most  marked  manifestations  of  enthusiasm, 
which  continued  until  the  departure  of  the  train  for  Fried- 
richsruh.  Count  Herbert,  who,  since  1885,  had  worked  with 
his  father  in  the  capacity  of  under-Secretary  of  State,  re- 
signed his  post  in  order  to  accompany  his  father  into  retire- 
ment, thus  cutting  short  a  most  brilliant  career,  for  he  had 
been  appointed  Minister  to  Prussia  in  May,  1888,  and  seemed 
to  be  a  most  fitting  person  to  one  day  succeed  to  the  Imperial 
Chancellorship.  Count  Wilhelm  retained  his  post  of  Presi- 
dent of  the  Council  at  Hanover. 

And,  now  that  the  curtain  may  be  drawn  upon  the  political 


136  The  Real  Bismarck. 

career  of  Bismarck,  it  is  with  a  kind  of  relief  that  we  see  ap- 
proaching the  end  of  our  task.  The  conclusion  will  be  less 
painful  to  us  because  unaccompanied  by  those  souvenirs, 
irritating  to  us,  which  attach  to  the  political  history  of  the 
Chancellor;  it  will  be  confined  to  the  recording  of  the  say- 
ings and  doings  of  his  private  life,  which  is  itself  irreproach- 
able. Among  the  most  characteristic  words  spoken  by  the 
Chancellor,  a  propos  of  his  retirement,  we  quote  the  follow- 
ing: "  All  the  '  good  friends  '  begin  to  breathe  again  and  to 
sigh :  '  At  last ! '  I  am  not  to  be  pardoned  for  remaining 
Prime  Minister  for  twenty-eight  years !  Twenty-eight  years ! 
— think  of  it!  What  insolence!  [sic].  Should  not  such  ef- 
frontery have  been  long  ago  discouraged?  and  all  who,  in 
those  twenty-eight  years  have  vainly  hoped  to  become  Prime 
Minister;  all  who  have  considered  themselves  ill-treated, 
misunderstood,  unappreciated,  or  ill-recompensed — all  ap- 
prove; and  God  knows  what  total  their  numbers  have 
reached  in  this  long  time ! " 

This  enormous  cohort  of  natural  enemies,  which  the  con- 
tinued success  of  a  man  necessarily  gathers  in  his  wake,  was 
as  a  matter  of  course  employed  in  aggravating  the  misunder- 
standing between  Bismarck  and  his  sovereign. 

So  far  was  it  successful  that  two  years  later,  at  the  time  of 
the  marriage,  in  Vienna,  of  Count  Herbert  and  the  Princess 
Hoyos,  the  difference  took  a  more  serious  form.  The  Em- 
peror declared  himself  entirely  uninterested  in  the  event, 
and  Chancellor  von  Caprivi  sent  a  despatch  to  Prince  von 
Reuss,  Ambassador  to  Vienna,  requesting  him  and  his  suite 
to  abstain  from  all  participation  in  the  fetes  announced. 
This  measure  decided  the  Emperor  of  Austria  himself,  who 
was  upon  the  best  terms  with  Bismarck,  not  to  be  present  at 
the  marriage,  which  was  celebrated  with  the  strictest  privacy. 
Despite  his  advanced  age  Prince  Bismarck  and  his  wife  trav- 
elled to  Vienna,  and  it  is  important  to  note  that  both  going 


The  Real  Bismarck.  137 

and  returning  the  ex- Chancellor  was  greeted  with  enthusi- 
astic warmth.  The  family  passed  the  remainder  of  the  sum- 
mer at  Varzin,  where  Bismarck  received  the  sad  intelligence 
of  the  death  of  his  old  friend  and  associate  Lothar  Bucher. 

"  All  my  friends,"  said  he,  upon  this  occasion — "  my  true 
friends — have  preceded  me  to  the  tomb,  and  those  who  pre- 
tend to  be  my  friends  turn  from  me." 

It  was  absolutely  true,  for  it  was  upon  the  support  of  the 
one-time  partisans  of  the  Prince  that  the  Emperor  William 
II.  continued  to  count,  while  his  official  enemies  persisted  in 
their  opposition  to  the  Government.  It  was  evidently  a 
tardy  consciousness  of  this  false  position  which  decided  the 
young  Emperor  to  effect  a  reconciliation. 

This  was  accomplished  by  the  somewhat  eccentric  means 
of  a  bottle  of  old  Rhine  wine  (Steinberger  Kabinet)  which 
the  Emperor  sent  the  Prince  by  his  aide  de  camp,  the  young 
Count  von  Moltke.  The  ex-Chancellor  was  just  recov- 
ering from  an  attack  of  pneumonia,  contracted  during  a  so- 
journ at  Kissingen  in  1893,  and  which,  while  he  was  slowly 
convalescing,  was  complicated,  in  January,  1894,  by  influ- 
enza and  a  return  of  the  facial  neuralgia  from  which  he  had 
formerly  suffered. 

Hardly  was  his  recovery  assured  when  Bismarck  started 
for  Berlin  to  offer  his  thanks  personally  to  the  Emperor  who, 
in  fact,  had  explicitly  solicited  an  interview.  This  was  for 
the  Berliners  the  occasion  of  fresh  manifestations  still  more 
enthusiastic  than  those  which  had  preceded  it.  The  people 
cheered  both  the  sovereign  and  his  old  minister;  and  more 
than  one  partisan  of  Bismarck,  witnessing  this  triumphant 
return  to  grace,  must  have  been  tempted  to  prognosticate 
the  ex-Chancellor's  return  to  power. 

But  it  was  decreed  that  all  marks  of  the  high  considera- 
tion in  which  the  supreme  master  of  Germany  was  henceforth 
to  hold  the  founder  of  the  Empire  should  be  purely  honorary 


138  The  Real  Bismarck. 

in  character.  Besides,  was  not  Bismarck  grown  too  old  to 
dream  of  resuming  the  reins  of  a  government  which  he  had 
directed  with  such  marvellous  address?  Undoubtedly,  for 
he  had  nearly  reached  his  eightieth  year,  and  the  most  gifted 
imagination  would  have  had  difficulty  in  recognizing  in  the 
gentleman-farmer  the  martial  colonel  who  spurred  the  King's 
horse  at  Koenigsgraetz.  The  caricaturists  themselves  would 
have  had  some  trouble  in  identifying  him,  for  he  had  long 
since  lost  the  three  hairs  with  which  the  top  of  his  cranium 
had  bristled.  He  was  then  a  handsome,  dignified  old  man, 
wearing,  generally,  the  habit  of  a  Protestant  priest — a  long, 
black  coat,  a  neckcloth  of  white  lawn  and  a  broad-brimmed 
hat.  His  countenance,  however,  retained  its  expression  of 
intense  energy,  and  from  his  eyes  occasionally  flashed  the 
same  spark  which  had  made  so  many  human  beings  tremble. 
The  old  lion  was  not  dead  and  could  still  roar  were  it  neces- 
sary. No,  he  was  not  dead,  but  Death  was  about  to  pass 
so  near  him  that  the  rustle  of  his  wings  would  be  heard,  and 
to  strike  the  devoted  companion  of  his  life,  the  stainless  wife 
who  for  half  a  century  had  so  simply  and  valiantly  shared 
the  burden  of  his  success,  the  laurels  of  his  glory.  On  No- 
vember 27,  1894,  Madame  von  Bismarck  died  of  the  malady 
which  had  for  some  months  been  undermining  her  health, 
and  the  old  man  of  the  Sachsenwald  was  left  alone  in  the 
twilight  of  his  life,  deprived  of  that  Johanna  who  had  been 
as  a  beacon  to  his  stormy  existence;  of  the  woman  so  ten- 
derly loved,  and  of  whom  he  had  so  often  repeated  that 
without  her  he  would  never  have  become  what  he  had  been. 
His  sorrow  found  an  echo  in  the  German  heart;  once 
more  was  it  proved  that  it  beat  in  unison  with  his  own.  The 
national  fete  which  celebrated  the  eightieth  anniversary  of 
the  old  Chancellor's  birth  surpassed  in  brilliancy  all  which 
had  preceded  it.  The  Emperor  himself  set  the  example. 
Accompanied  by  the  Crown  Prince,  he  presented  himself 


The  Real  Bismarck.  139 

at  Friedrichsruh,  wearing  the  cuirass  and  uniform  of  the 
White  Cuirassiers,  the  helmet  surmounted  by  the  golden 
eagle  with  outspread  wings.  Bismarck  had  donned  for  the 
occasion  his  cuirassier's  uniform  of  the  landwehr,  and  in  the 
forest-bordered  field  where  the  encounter  took  place,  the  old 
soldier-statesman  and  the  Emperor  who  looked  like  the 
hero  of  a  Wagnerian  legend,  once  more  gave  the  enthusiastic 
crowd  the  illusion  of  assisting  at  an  interview  between  two 
sovereigns  about  to  seal  the  peace  of  the  world.  Faithful- 
ness to  historical  fact  makes  necessary  the  remark  that  the 
Emperor's  step  had  also  for  its  motive  the  giving  of  a  lesson 
and  a  warning  to  the  leaders  of  the  Parliamentary  Opposi- 
tion. As  a  matter  of  fact,  some  days  before,  the  Government 
party,  represented  by  the  President  of  the  Reichstag,  Herr 
von  Levetzow,  had  proposed  to  Parliament  that  the  felicita- 
tions of  the  Assembly  should  collectively  be  offered  to  Bis- 
marck. The  Liberals  and  the  Catholic  party  protested,  and 
the  Deputy  from  Hodenberg  had  mounted  the  platform  and 
made  the  following  declaration: 

In  the  name  of  my  political  friends  of  Hanover,  I  pray  the 
President  to  expressly  except  us,  in  addressing  felicitations 
to  Herr  von  Bismarck.  It  would  not  be  proper  for  us  to 
participate  in  the  rendering  of  honour  to  a  man  who,  violat- 
ing the  rights  of  the  German  princes  and  people,  has  made 
Hanover  a  province  of  Prussia. 

The  Reichstag  putting  this  proposition  to  vote,  it  was  de- 
feated by  163  voices  against  146. 

The  Emperor's  reply  was  promptly  despatched;  on  the 
same  day  he  telegraphed  the  Prince: 

To    Prince   von    Bismarck,    Duke   of   Lauenburg,    Fried- 
richsruh : 

I  desire  to  express  to  Your  Highness  my  profound  indig- 
nation at  the  decision  just  taken  in  the  Reichstag.  That 


The  Real  Bismarck. 


decision  is  in  direct  opposition  to  the  sentiments  of  all  the 
German  princes  and  people.  WILLIAM. 

However,  the  indignant  attitude  of  the  Emperor  was  not 
so  successful  as  he  had  expected  it  would  be;  the  Liberals 
resisted  this  sting  of  the  lash.  One  of  the  most  important 


The  Princess  von  Bismarck  (the  Year  of  her  Death). 

Progressist  associations  of  South  Germany  (that  of  Pforz- 
heim, Grand  Duchy  of  Baden)  responded  with  a  vote  frankly 
hostile  to  the  sovereign,  saying: 

"  The  Assembly  expresses  its  profound  regret  that  a  con- 


The  Real  Bismarck.  143 

stitutionally  irresponsible  person  should  have  permitted  the 
expression  of  an  opinion  opposed  to  the  vote  of  the  Reichs- 
tag; it  also  expresses  the  hope  that  before,  as  after,  the 
Reichstag  may  make  its  decisions  without  concern  as  to 
whether  they  shall  be  pleasing  or  displeasing." 

But  neither  the  murmur  of  the  wind  of  the  Fronde  nor  the 
very  literal  rain  which  fell  at  Friedrichsruh  on  the  day  of 
the  Emperor's  interview  with  the  Prince  (March  27th)  suc- 
ceeded in  dampening  the  general  enthusiasm.  It  was  an 
unforgettable  spectacle  to  the  crowd  which  pressed  round 
the  field  occupied  by  the  cuirassiers  of  the  guard,  elbowed 
at  every  moment  by  a  flying  squadron  of  photographers,  re- 
porters and  police,  when  the  Emperor  caracoled  before  the 
troops  to  the  sound  of  trumpet  and  drum,  drew  his  horse 
in  beside  the  landau  in  which  sat  the  Prince,  and  presented 
to  him  the  sword  of  honour  which  was  the  Emperor's  per- 
sonal gift. 

This  sword,  which  many  high  personages  have  since  ad- 
mired at  Friedrichsruh,  is  a  golden  cuirassier's  sabre,  upon 
the  guard  of  which  is  the  escutcheon  of  Bismarck,  and  upon 
the  head  of  the  hilt  a  miniature  of  the  Emperor.  Upon  one 
side  of  the  blade  is  engraved  the  Imperial  escutcheon  and 
this  inscription :  "  To  Prince  von  Bismarck,  Duke  of  Lauen- 
burg,  upon  his  eightieth  birthday."  Upon  the  other  side, 
in  Gothic  characters,  is  the  famous  phrase  in  the  discourse  of 
1888:  Wir  Deutschen  fiirchten  Gott,  aber  sonst  nichts  in  der 
Welt — ("  We  Germans,  we  fear  God,  but  nothing  else  in  the 
world  "). 

Device  of  which  this  time  the  circumstance  emphasized 
the  arrogance,  and  by  which  the  new  sword  of  Damocles 
seemed  to  menace  all  who  showed  any  disposition  to  trouble 
the  peaceful  digestions  of  the  German  people. 

And  while  the  Emperor  complimented  the  Prince  in  a  few 
energetic  words,  which  doubtless  contained  allusions  rela- 


144  The  Real  Bismarck. 

tive  to  the  national  industry  of  Prussia,  the  little  Crown 
Prince,  also  in  uniform,  stood  near  the  landau,  a  living  alle- 
gory of  the  future  of  this  soldier-race,  for  whom  it  would 
seem  there  is  no  salvation  except  in  military  enterprises. 
During  the  days  which  followed  there  was  a  repetition  of  the 
"  huldigungen  "  of  1885;  a  colossal  stream  of  delegates  from 
all  corners  of  the  world  to  greet  the  patriarch  of  Friedrichs- 
ruh  and  deposit  their  offerings  at  his  feet. 

Among  these  offerings,  besides  the  commemorative  monu- 
ments in  chocolate  and  nougat,  and  the  patriotic  "  motifs  " 
in  confectionery,  was  a  helmet  manufactured  from  the  skin  of 
"  the  fretful  porcupine  "  with  all  its  quills  preserved;  a  dis- 
creet allusion,  it  may  be,  to  the  ancestral  device  of  Bismarck : 
"  Let  the  herb  flourish  by  the  wayside  and  have  a  care  of  it, 
wayfarer,  for  it  has  thorns  "  ;  a  butcher's  "  degree  "  con- 
ferred by  the  corporation  of  meat  and  pork  butchers  of  Ber- 
lin; some  buffaloes,  the  gift  of  the  German  colony  in  Cincin- 
nati; a  gigantic  sculptured  group  representing  a  stag 
brought  to  bay  by  the  leader  of  the  pack,  gift  of  the  patriots 
of  Anhalt;  a  collection  of  the  reports  of  studies,  conduct 
and  application  obtained  by  Bismarck  when  a  student  at  the 
school  of  the  Gray  Cloister,  the  gift  of  the  director  of  the 
pupils  of  that  institution. 


XII. 
BISMARCK  AT  HOME. 

At  Friedrichsruh — The  Old  Man  of  the  Sachsenwald — Bismarck, 
Peasant — Professor  Schwenninger:  How  He  Became  Bismarck's 
Physician — The  Regime  of  Salt  Herring — The  Patriarch's  House 
— His  Private  Apartment — Painful  Digestion — A  Souvenir  of 
the  Past — Bismarck  Speculating  at  the  Bourse — Diplomatic 
Superchery. 

Some  years  since,  the  tourist  who  might  have  chanced  to 
lose  himself  in  the  Sachsenwald — the  Saxon  forest — might 
also  have  chanced  to  encounter  a  gigantic  old  man,  amply 
booted  and  arrayed  in  a  long  black  coat  or  a  gray  plaid; 
chest  expanded  and  walking-stick  passed  horizontally  be- 
hind his  back  and  through  his  bended  arms.  At  once  the 
tourist  would  have  recognized  Bismarck;  the  Bismarck 
millions  of  times  pictured  in  this  accoutrement  of  a  pastoral 
hermit — a  sylvan  patriarch.  Moreover,  the  presence  of 
Tyras  or  of  one  of  his  compeers  would  have  dispelled  any 
lingering  doubt  of  Bismarck's  identity. 

Nowadays,  the  old  man  of  the  Sachsenwald,  a  victim  of 
rheumatism,  seldom  goes  out;  further,  he  has  materially  al- 
tered, in  the  physical  man,  from  the  likeness  with  which  the 
world  is  familiar,  and  has  more  the  appearance  of  a  simple 
old  peasant. 

Bismarck  no  longer  disdains  the  appellation  of  peasant, 
the  highest  honours  having  exhausted  for  him  all  their  se- 
ductions. Did  not  the  venerable  von  Moltke  add  that  title 
(of  peasant)  to  his  signature?  Bismarck  would  assuredly  do 
the  same  did  not  he  find  it  simpler  to  sign  himself  only  "  von 


146  The  Real  Bismarck. 

Bismarck,"  he  who  has  an  embarras  de  choix  among  the  titles 
belonging  to  him.  He  is  a  proud  example  to  the  nobility 
of  all  nations. 

The  hermit  of  Sachsenwald,  besides,  has  always  retained 
his  taste  for  simplicity  and  rusticity;  caring  as  little  for  ex- 
cessive decorations,  because  he  may  claim  any  number  of 
them,  as  the  man  of  many  titles  cares  for  those  enviable  dis- 
tinctions. His  attire  is  of  the  most  modest  description;  he 
wears  not  even  a  ring. 

Formerly,  when  he  was  able  to  take  long  walks  and  ride 
much,  Bismarck's  pride  was  in  his  well-varnished  boots; 
now,  even  that  bit  of  coquetry  is  denied  him,  for  the  old  man 
passes  three-quarters  of  his  time  in  slippers,  his  legs  ex- 
tended upon  a  leather-covered  footstool. 

Now  is  the  moment  to  speak  of  Bismarck's  physician,  the 
famous  Professor  Schwenninger  who  is  the  unanimously 
accepted  medical  authority  in  Germany.  Yet  it  wa&jhot  al- 
ways so.  His  rapid  rise,  above  all  his  nomination  as  Pro- 
fessor of  the  Faculty  of  Berlin,  made  him  greatly  envied,  it 
is  said  even  brought  him  enemies.  Curiously  enough,  the 
grievance  which  medical  men  laid  most  stress  upon  was  his 
Jewish  extraction,  which,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  he  cannot 
claim.  He  owes  his  Semitic  profile  to  his  Italian  origin. 
Early  rivals,  however,  have  yielded  before  the  increasing 
popularity  of  Professor  Schwenninger,  particularly  since  an 
Imperial  decree  accorded  him  an  unlimited  furlough  before 
permitting  him  to  consecrate  himself  entirely  to  the  service 
of  Bismarck.  It  is  considered  that  this  physician  has  saved 
the  Chancellor's  life,  a  fact  which  has  in  no  small  degree 
contributed  to  disarm  the  prejudice  of  his  colleagues. 

Professor  Schwenninger  has  founded  at  Berlin  an  Insti- 
tute which  has  many  students.  His  decisions  are  respected 
as  if  they  were  a  sentence  pronounced  by  the  Faculty,  and 
his  advice  is  followed  as  implicitly  as  though  he  were  an 


The  Real  Bismarck. 


147 


oracle.  He  has  also  a  numerous  clientele  which  he  treats  by 
correspondence,  for  he  seldom  leaves  Friedrichsruh.  Com- 
munication with  the  Hermitage,  moreover,  is  as  assured  as 
in  the  days  when  Bismarck  was  Chancellor.  Most  of  the 
German  post-offices  close  at  eight  or  nine  o'clock,  while 
that  of  Friedrichsruh  remains  open  until  midnight  or,  on  the 
great  Bismarckian  /^te-days,  does  not  close  at  all. 


I 

A,  i. 


Bismarck  at  Kissingen. 

It  is  enough  to  say  that  the  voluminous  daily  mail  of 
Professor  Schwenninger  is  never  delayed  either  in  its  re- 
ceipt or  delivery.  Prince  Bismarck  enjoys  truly  princely 
privileges ;  a  telegram  sent  by  him  to  any  station  along  the 
line  of  the  Hamburg  and  Berlin  railway  will  cause  the  most 
rapid  express,  which  stops  at  no  intermediate  station,  to  be 
held  at  Friedrichsruh,  that  tiny  village  of  at  most  a  hundred 
souls,  not  to  be  found  upon  any  geographical  chart.  It  is 
unnecessary  to  say  that  Bismarck  exercises  his  omnipotence 
only  when  he  expects  guests  on  the  train.  But  this  detail 
will  suffice  to  give  an  idea  of  the  respect  with  which  the 


148  The  Real  Bismarck. 

illustrious  old  man  is  surrounded  in  his  retirement.  Let  us 
return  to  Dr.  Schwenninger  in  order  to  relate  an  anecdote 
of  the  beginning  of  his  connection  with  Bismarck.  The 
reputation  of  the  Professor  was  in  its  infancy  when  he  was 


Bismarck  at  Kissingen  Station. 

called  for  the  first  time  to  the  Prince's  palace,  to  attend  his 
son,  Count  Wilhelm.  Schwenninger  cured  the  Count  and 
was  finally  consulted  by  Bismarck  on  his  own  account;  but 
the  first  serious  consultation  brought  about  an  incident 
which  was  nearly  disastrous.  Schwenninger  began  by  ask- 
ing the  Prince  so  many  questions  that,  finally  losing  pa- 
tience, he  exclaimed :  "  Are  you  going  to  question  me  much 
longer?  I  asked  to  be  relieved  of  my  malady  and  not  to 
submit  to  an  interrogatory."  The  young  physician,  how- 
ever, was  not  to  be  intimidated.  *  "  If  I  question  your  Ex- 
cellency it  is  that  I  may  be  aided  in  discovering  upon  what 
ground  to  base  my  treatment.  Yet  if  your  Excellency  dis- 
like to  be  questioned  you  are  at  liberty  to  employ  a  veteri- 


The  Real  Bismarck.  149 

nary,  who  is  accustomed  to  cure  his  patients  without  ever 
asking  a  question." 

The  Prince  shot  at  the  daring  young  man  a  terrible  glance, 
yet  submitted,  nevertheless;  contenting  himself  with  the  re- 
tort: "  Very  well,  so  be  it;  do  as  you  will.  I  have  only  one 
wish,  and  that  is  that  my  cure  may  result,  and  so  prove  to 
me  that  your  talent  equals  your  insolence." 

Schwenninger  had  the  unhoped-for  luck  to  cure  his  pa- 
tient. 

The  word  "  luck  "  is  here  not  improperly  used,  for  in  these 
matters  chance  plays  a  more  important  role  than  may  be 
.  supposed.  It  should  be  observed,  however,  for  the  sake  of 
fairness,  that  the  Prince's  health  was  seriously  compro- 
mised before  he  determined  to  mention  his  condition  to  the 
young  physician.  He  was  visibly  wasting  away  and  the  phy- 
sicians first  consulted  had  pronounced  the  trouble  a  pre- 
disposition to  cancer  of  the  stomach  and  liver ;  in  short,  the 
Faculty  had  given  the  family  to  understand  that  the  sick  man 
had  but  a  short  time  to  live. 

The  first  effect  of  Dr.  Schwenninger's  intervention  was  to 
raise  the  spirits  of  his  patient  and  to  reassure  the  family. 

After  his  diagnostic  the  cancerous  theory  was  disposed 
of,  there  having  been  revealed  only  a  considerable  dilatation 
of  the  stomach  and  intestines.  Now  Schweninger,  who  is 
an  enthusiastic  upholder  of  rational  therapeutics,  that  is, 
of  that  which  recommends  hygienic  and  dietetic  remedies 
before  all  others — was  precisely  the  man  for  the  situation; 
the  "  right  man  in  the  right  place "  as  the  English  say. 
The  treatment  ordered  was  most  rigorous.  It  consisted 
exclusively  of  an  almost  absolute  dietetic  regime,  which 
was  conscientiously  followed  by  the  sick  man,  who  became 
docile  the  moment  he  was  spared  the  swallowing  of  the 
drugs  of  which  he  had  a  horror.  For  six  consecutive  weeks 
Bismarck  consented  to  live  only  upon  salted  herring, 


150  The  Real  Bismarck. 

to  which  were  afterward  added  butter,  bread  and  potatoes. 
Fluids  were  interdicted  until,  his  returning  strength  per- 
mitting him  a  little  exercise,  the  doctor  thought  he  might 
be  permitted,  one  hour  after  eating,  a  few  swallows  of  spring 
water. 

This  course  was  wholly  successful,  for  the  patient  was  not 
long  in  recovering  and  was  enabled  to  resume  his  usual 
mode  of  existence.  These  details  show  that  Dr.  Schwen- 
ninger  really  saved  the  Prince's  life  and  that  the  gratitude 
since  felt  and  expressed  by  the  Bismarck  family  is  founded 
upon  a  solid  basis. 

Friedrichsruh  is  now  to  be  described — the  most  modest 
of  Bismarck's  domains — of  which  he  once  thought  to  make 
but  a  simple  country-seat,  afterward  deciding  to  pass  there 
the  remainder  of  his  days.  The  motive  of  this  decision  has 
never  been  explained,  and  by  nothing  does  it  seem  to  be 
justified ;  neither  the  doubtful  beauty  of  the  location,  which 
admits  of  a  view  neither  extended  nor  picturesque,  despite 
the  Sachsenwald ;  nor  the  mansion  itself,  which  to  the  min- 
imum of  comfort  adds  every  imaginable  inconvenience,  in- 
cluding the  small  rooms  which,  built  almost  upon  a  level 
with  the  ground,  even  the  monumental  chimneys  fail  to 
render  entirely  free  from  humidity;  added  to  these  draw- 
backs is  the  immediate  proximity  of  one  of  the  noisiest  rail- 
ways in  Germany;  so  near  is  it  that  the  noise  and  smoke  of 
all  the  express  trains  of  the  Berlin-Hamburg  line  enter  the 
master's  bedroom,  at  the  extreme  end  of  the  house,  only 
about  thirty  paces  from  the  railway.  The  Prince  is  not 
wholly  indifferent  to  these  inconveniences  but  it  is  well 
known  that  he  possesses  a  remarkable  power  of  passivity 
to  oppose  to  the  contingencies  of  material  existence. 

He  still  occupies  himself  with  tree-planting — the  saplings 
in  the  near-by  nurseries,  awaiting  the  day  when  the  cen- 
tenarians shall  have  succumbed  to  the  axe  and  they  shall 


The  Real  Bismarck.  151 

take  possession  of  the  vacant  places,  are  sufficient  proof. 
He  insists  that  persons  of  his  age  do  not  build;  he  prefers  to 
leave  that  duty  to  his  sons.  In  reality,  I  believe  in  Bis- 
marck's attachment  to  Friedrichsruh  is  to  be  found  the  sim- 
ple fancy  of  an  infirm  old  man  who,  having-  spent  the  greater 
part  of  his  life  in  journeying,  resists  the  idea  of  further  dis- 
placement ;  finally  taking  root  in  the  spot  most  propitious  to 
his  health.  For  him  as  for  many  others,  doubtless  the  max- 
imum of  well-being  is  represented  by  a  minimum  of  suffer- 
ing; and  this  minimum  supposedly  corresponds  with  the 
meridian  wherein  lies  the  Duchy  of  Lauenburg. 

There  is  no  comedy  in  his  obstinacy.  Bismarck  might  as 
easily  cultivate  his  garden  at  Varzin,  at  Schonhausen  or  in 
any  other  of  his  Thebaides,  each  more  aesthetic  and  more 
conveniently  arranged  than  Friedrichsruh.  If  he  lives  at 
Friedrichsruh  it  is,  as  we  have  said,  simply  an  old  man's 
caprice,  strengthened  by  hygienic  prejudices  more  or  less 
illusory;  it  is  also  because  he  there  feels  himself  much  nearer 
Berlin,  the  heart  of  Germany — Berlin,  which  possibly  con- 
tinues to  exercise  over  the  old  diplomatist  that  nostalgic 
charm  which  Paris,  from  a  distance,  exercises  over  every 
true  Parisian. 

In  the  course  of  a  journey  across  Germany  I  was  granted 
from  the  sleeping-car  a  glimpse  of  Friedrichsruh,  and  that 
vision  left  the  same  impression  since  found  to  coincide  with 
many  descriptions  from  the  pens  of  German  reporters.  The 
edifice  belongs  to  no  known  architectural  epoch;  it  has 
nothing  in  common  with  the  most  rustic  or  modest  chateau, 
and  I  can  sympathize  with  Bismarck's  vexation  at  being 
called  by  a  certain  celebrated  writer  among  his  compatriots 
— "the  chatelain  of  Friedrichsruh";  in  fact,  said  by  any 
except  an  admirer,  the  title  might  be  considered  an  ill-natured 
jest. 

If  one  turns  toward  the  wall  of  the  park  which  extends  to 


152  The  Real  Bismarck. 

the  edge  of  the  railway,  the  Prince's  mansion  is  presented 
from  its  most  favorable  side.  Here  one  of  the  wings  con- 
structed over  an  old  court-yard,  offers  a  sort  of  belvedere 
from  which  Bismarck  can  easily  address  the  innumerable 
deputations  which  come  thither  to  offer  their  homage. 
These  deputations  are  almost  never  admitted  to  the  house 
itself,  access  to  which  is  rigorously  interdicted  to  the  pro- 
fane, and  generally  to  all  visitors  whoever  they  may  be — 
with  the  exception  of  officers  in  uniform;  Bismarck  never 
having  been  able  to  cure  himself  of  his  partiality  for  a  uni- 
form. 

If  the  threshold  of  the  home  is  so  carefully  guarded,  it  is, 
let  us  say,  uniquely  to  protect  him  from  a  repetition  of  the 
indiscretion  of  one  anonymous  admirer,  who,  as  a  souvenir 
of  his  pilgrimage,  appropriated  the  manuscript  which  con- 
tained the  good-wishes  of  William  I.  upon  the  occasion 
of  Bismarck's  sixtieth  birthday. 

Directly  upon  the  belvedere  opens  the  door  leading  from 
the  dining-room,  which  also  communicates  with  the  large 
salon.  Thanks  to  the  numerous  tall  windows  overlooking 
the  park,  the  dining-room  is  very  bright  and  cheerful  in 
spite  of  the  gray  paper  which  covers  the  walls'  of  this  and 
every  other  room.  The  generally  severe  tone  of  the  interior, 
particularly  in  the  apartment  occupied  by  the  Prince,  the 
mediocrity  of  the  decorations  and  the  slight  degree  of  com- 
fort, harmonize  with  the  note  struck  by  the  exterior.  In 
other  respects,  also,  is  confirmed  that  poverty  of  sensuous- 
ness  and  of  artistic  taste  of  which  Bismarck  has  frequently 
boasted,  alleging  that  the  qualities  which  make  an  artist  are 
incompatible  with  those  which  distinguish  a  statesman. 

Upon  the  walls  of  the  dining-room  are  paintings,  chiefly 
landscapes,  by  Menzel  and  by  Lenbach.  Bismarck  also 
counted  upon  placing  there,  in  pursuance  of  the  desire  of 
the  donor,  the  portrait  of  William  II.  sent  to  him  by  the 


The  Real  Bismarck.  153 

Emperor  in  1890;  but  the  canvas  was  too  large.  It  is  now 
in  the  museum  at  Schonhausen,  together  with  the  numerous 
other  gifts  received  by  Bismarck  in  recent  years. 

The  windows  of  the  salon  entered  from  the  dining-room 
also  open  upon  the  park;  here  it  is  that  the  family  and 
guests  gather  after  meals.  A  larg;e  divan  occupies  one  cor- 
ner of  the  room,  which  was  formerly  the  favorite  seat  of  the 
master  of  the  house.  Every  evening  he  dispensed  there  the 
wit  and  gayety  which  accompany  good  digestion,  surrounded 
by  a  circle  of  intimates  of  whom  he  was  the  venerated  god — 
an  illusion  completed,  moreover,  by  the  clouds  of  smoke  ex- 
haled from  his  lips  and  from  the  bowl  of  his  pipe,  and  in 
which,  at  moments,  he  totally  disappeared. 

Nowadays  the  digestion  of  the  patriarch  is  more  difficult 
and  less  complete;  his  humour  less  sociable  and  equable; 
failings  for  which  now  and  then  he  asks  to  be  excused,  pray- 
ing those  about  him  not  to  take  too  much  to  heart  his 
nervousness  and  his  peevishness ;  "  it  is  the  effect  of  age  and 
of  the  evils  which  it  induces — but  with  me  it  never  lasts 
long/'  he  says.  And  the  better  to  earn  his  pardon,  no 
doubt,  he  willingly  retires  after  dinner  to  a  little  room  along- 
side, where'he  reads  the  journals  until  overcome  by  drowsi- 
ness. 

The  old  soldier-diplomatist  has  truly  an  ancestral  regard 
for  his  younger  guests,  for  their  gayety,  in  which  he  fears  to 
strike  a  false  note,  for  their  pleasures  which  he  would  not 
embarrass.  In  the  evening,  indeed,  the  members  of  the 
family  with  their  friends  make  up  a  little  party  at  cards,  and 
the  presence  of  the  old  man  would  be  a  restraint,  for  Bis- 
marck has  never  liked  cards  since  he  was  very  young;  in 
fact  he  disdains  all  games.  Once  only,  according  to  his  own 
avowal,  he  essayed  some  speculations  at  the  Bourse — before 
he  became  Minister;  but  he  had  so  little  success  that  the  ex- 
periment was  never  repeated. 


154 


The  Real  Bismarck. 


It  was  at  the  time  when  Bismarck  was  charged  with  a  mis- 
sion to  Napoleon  III.  a  propos  of  the  Neufchatel  affair. 
Being  upon  the  point  of  declaring  war  against  Switzerland, 
the  Prussians  endeavoured  to  obtain  permission  for  their 
troops  to  cross  the  eastern  provinces  of  France.  Bismarck, 
convinced  that  the  war  would  take  place,  gave  Rothschild 


Starting  for  a  Canter. 

of  Frankfort  orders  to  sell.  Rothschild  disapproved  of  the 
proceeding,  but  Bismarck  would  listen  to  nothing  and  per- 
sisted in  the  order.  The  war  did  not  take  place,  there  was 
a  rise  in  stocks  and  the  imprudent  speculator  lost  a  large 
sum. 

A  propos  of  cards,  the  Prince  once  related  to  Herr  Busch 
an  incident  worthy  of  Machiavelli,  and  to  which  his  imagina- 
tion doubtless  added.  It  was  at  Gastein,  in  1865,  during  the 
negotiations  of  the  Austro-Prussian  Convention. 


The  Last  Interview. 


The  Real  Bismarck.  157 

Between  times,  parties  were  made  up  for  the  evening. 
One  evening  I  myself  made  one  of  the  fifteen,  playing  with 
a  kind  of  folly  intended  to  impress  the  gallery.  This  folly 
was  entirely  feigned;  Blome,  the  Austrian  diplomat,  had 
pretended  the  day  before  that  gambling  furnished  precious 
psychological  indications  of  the  moral  value  of  the  players. 
I  resigned  myself  to  the  loss  of  a  few  hundred  thalers  ex- 
pressly in  order  to  give  him  an  indifferent  opinion  of  me. 
He  thought  he  had  to  deal  with  an  imbecile  and  a  foolhardy 
fellow  and  this  permitted  me  to  get  the  better  of  him  in  the 
negotiations  which  followed. 

Speaking  of  games  of  chance,  Bismarck  assured  Herr 
Busch  that  he  liked  them  when  he  was  younger,  but  only 
when  the  stakes  were  high;  "It  is  a  taste  unsuited  to  a  man 
who  is  the  father  of  a  family." 

Let  us  mention,  in  passing,  another  room  near  the  salon, 
where  are  arranged  some  objects  of  art  and  gifts  peculiarly 
dear  to  the  Prince;  notably  a  smaller  reproduction,  in  silver, 
of  the  national  monument  of  Niederwald,  a  gift  of  the  Em- 
peror William  L,  accompanied  by  the  words:  "The  key- 
stone of  your  politics,  souvenir  of  a  ceremony  especially  in 
your  honour,  at  which  you  were  unhappily  unable  to  be 
present." 

Among  the  pictures  is  a  portrait  by  Lenbach  of  Bismarck 
as  the  hermit  of  the  forest,  wearing  the  familiar  gray  visored 
cap. 


XIII. 

Bismarck's  Bed-Chamber — Tyras  I.,  Tyras  II.,  and  Rebecca — The 
Dogs'  Paradise  — Bismarck  as  a  Zoophile — Weighing  and 
Measuring  Machines — The  Variations  of  the  Chancellor's 
Weight — The  Bismarck  Family  are  Measured — Bismarck  His 
Own  Barber — The  Sitting-Room  of  the  Late  Princess — Noc- 
turnal Pastimes — Laborious  Annexations — A  Village  Without 
a  Barber,  a  Pastor,  a  Mayor,  a  Church  or  a  School — Bismarck, 
Manufacturer  of  Wooden  Paving-Blocks — Sylvan  Legends  : 
the  Horla  of  the  Saxon  Forest. 

The  private  apartment  of  the  Prince,  containing  only 
strictly  necessary  objects,  is  situated  upon  the  first  floor  in 
a  distant  wing  of  the  building;  his  bedroom  and  study  oc- 
cupy the  corner  nearest  the  railway;  a  sort  of  antechamber 
leads  to  these  two  rooms,  which  serves  as  both  reception- 
room  and  library;  there  are,  however,  few  books  there  be- 
sides political  pamphlets  and  works  upon  agriculture. 
Upon  the  walls  are  portraits  of  Thiers,  von  Moltke  and  the 
young  Emperor  William  II.,  in  the  uniform  of  the  red  hus- 
sars. 

The  appointments  and  decorations  of  the  study  are  not 
less  severe.  An  enormous  desk  stands  in  the  middle  of 
the  room,  with  ink,  paper — all  the  necessary  furnishings, 
even  to  the  traditional  goose-quill.  Bismarck  has  always  in- 
sisted that  to  use  steel  pens  cramps  his  fingers.  Not  far 
from  the  desk  stands  a  little  card-table — the  same  upon  which 
were  signed  the  preliminaries  of  the  peace  of  Versailles,  and 
which  the  Prince  bought  of  Mme.  Jesse.  Upon  this  table 
or  upon  the  desk  is  not  rarely  seen  a  bottle  of  fine  cham- 
pagne, the  Prince  having  become  habituated  to  combat  by 

158 


The  Real  Bismarck.  159 

this  means  the  effects  of  the  dampness  or  of  excessive  cold. 
Cognac  is,  as  we  have  said,  the  Prince's  favorite  beverage. 

The  walls  are  covered  with  family  portraits  and  those  of 
Frederic  the  Great,  William  I.  in  civilian's  attire,  William 
II.,  etc.  The  only  articles  of  furniture  ate  a  divan  and  an 
armchair. 

The  bedroom  is  the  most  characteristic  of  Bismarck  him- 
self. The  venturesome  person  who  could  discover  the 
means  of  evading  the  vigilance  of  Pinnow,  the  valet,  and  suc- 
ceed, in  the  master's  absence,  in  crossing  the  threshold  of 
this  modest  wing,  might  penetrate  without  further  difficulty 
into  the  sanctuary  in  question,  for  a  thick  carpet  deadens  the 
sound  of  footsteps,  as  in  all  the  other  rooms.  Yet  he  should 
not  prematurely  felicitate  himself  upon  his  success  for  the 
bed  is  usually  guarded  by  Tyras  or  by  his  spouse  Rebecca, 
and  the  visitor  would  not  meet  an  encouraging  reception. 

The  present  Rebecca  is  the  descendant  of  the  Rebecca 
mentioned  in  one  of  the  letters  already  quoted.  Her  father, 
Tyras  I.,  was  the  authentic  Reichsund,  which  has  nothing 
in  common  with  the  present  Tyras.  This  fellow  is  a  gift  of 
the  Emperor  William  II. ;  were  it  not  for  that  fact  Bismarck 
would  long  ago  have  disposed  of  him,  for  the  dog  is  su- 
premely displeasing  to  him. 

"  Tyras,"  he  says,  "  is  ungracious;  his  lips  are  too  thick 
and  he  constantly  froths  at  the  mouth.  I  should  never  have 
bought  such  a  beast." 

Herr  von  Botticher,  who  executed  the  commission,  must 
be  an  indifferent  connoisseur.  As  to  Rebecca,  she  is  of  truly 
fine  breed  although  already  becoming  too  fat. 

It  must  not  be  supposed,  however,  that  Bismarck  ex- 
presses his  opinion  of  the  Imperial  gift  by  ill-treating  poor 
Tyras  II.  He  loves  animals  too  well  to  do  that,  and  is  the 
first  to  acknowledge  the  good  qualities  which  counterbal- 
ance his  bad  ones ;  for  he  is  peculiarly  gentle,  his  disposition 


160  The  Real  Bismarck. 

is  cheerful  and  equable  and  he  is  friendly  with  everyone, 
even  those  he  sees  for  the  first  time.  The  single  fact  of  find- 
ing the  two  dogs  lying  on  the  divan  or  in  the  master's  chair  is 
sufficient  proof  of  his  fondness  for  them. 

Even  at  Berlin  Tyras  I.  was  present  at  all  the  informal 
receptions,  although  the  animal  was  not  always  in  a  happy 
frame  of  mind  and  occasionally  showed  his  teeth  to  an  in- 
truder who,  to  his  mind,  had  not  been  duly  presented.  The 
master  could  never  bring  himself  to  punish  the  dog  for 
these  unsociable  demonstrations;  contenting  himself  with 
saying  to  the  persons  against  whom  they  were  directed: 
"  This  animal  will  end  by  setting  me  at  odds  with  every- 
one!" 

The  violent  passion  of  Bismarck  for  his  dogs  must  be 
borne  in  mind,  for — as  I  believe  I  have  elsewhere  said — it  is 
a  characteristic  to  be  found  in  most  humorists.  Upon  a 
little  console  is  the  portrait  of  a  black  greyhound;  the 
famous  "  Sultan  "  which  for  many  years  was  the  statesman's 
intimate  companion  and  mute  confidant  (the  dumbness  of 
animals  is  undoubtedly  the  strongest  appeal  to  the  sympathy 
they  awaken  in  us).  Sultan  having  one  day  attacked  a  pass- 
ing chimney-sweep,  was  killed  outright  by  the  latter.  His 
agony  so  unnerved  Bismarck  that  Count  Herbert  thought 
it  best  to  try  to  induce  his  father  to  leave  the  dog;  but  the 
Prince,  meeting  the  tearful  supplication  in  the  poor  brute's 
eyes — that  terrible,  poignant  regard  of  dying  animals — re- 
mained beside  him,  saying  to  his  son :  "  No,  I  cannot  quit 
him  like  that!"  When  Sultan  had  breathed  his  last  the 
Prince,  wiping  his  eyes,  murmured  as  if  to  himself:  "  Our 
ancestors'  religion  was  generous;  they  firmly  believed  that 
in  the  hunting  grounds  of  Paradise  they  should  find  all  the 
good  dogs  who  had  been  the  faithful  companions  of  their 
life.  I  wish  I  could  believe  that." 

With  a  less  narrow  conception  of  nature  the  hermit  of  the 


The  Real  Bismarck. 


161 


Sachsenwald  should  have  been  able  to  add  this  one  more  to 
his  Protestant  beliefs;  for  it  is  confessedly  illogical  to  be- 
lieve that  a  future  life  is  reserved  for  man  alone,  to  the  ex- 
clusion of  all  the  other  creatures  of  God. 

Bismarck  is  not  only  a  lover  of  dogs,  but  of  birds,  large 
and  small,  except  birds  of  prey,  which  rouse  the  instincts 
of  the  sportsman.  All  others  he  protects,  observing  their 
habits  with  the  interest  and  solicitude  of  a  naturalist.  All  the 
crows,  magpies  and  sansonnets  in  consequence  adore  the 


The  Museum  at  Schonhausen. 

shades  of  Friedrichsruh,  where  they  nest  and  go  about  their 
affairs  in  absolute  security. 

Upon  entering  the  Prince's  bedroom  two  articles  of 
furniture  attract  the  attention;  a  weighing-machine  and  a 
kind  of  dynamometer.  The  weighing-machine  serves  to 


162  The  Real  Bismarck. 

weigh  the  Prince  daily,  in  pursuance  of  his  physician's 
orders;  the  use  of  the  other  instrument  is  easily  divined;  it 
resembles  an  enormous  barometrical  cage  which  reaches 
nearly  from  floor  to  ceiling.  By  pulling  upon  the  handles 
suspended  at  the  end  of  cords  a  weight  is  lifted  a  certain 


Bismarck  with  his  Beard. 

number  of  feet.    It  is  excellent  exercise,  requiring  serious 
effort  and  admirably  developing  the  muscles  of  the  chest 
and  upper  extremities. 
The  weighing-machine  which  registers  the  variations  in 


The  Real  Bismarck.  163 

the  Prince's  weight  has  always  played  an  important  role  in 
his  physiological  experiments:  for  it  should  not  be  forgot- 
ten that  Bismarck  once  weighed  two  hundred  and  forty- 
seven  pounds  and  that  his  sojourns  at  Kissingen  had  for 
their  chief  purpose  the  reduction  of  this  obesity.  His  per- 
severance was  finally  rewarded,  for  after  a  long  time  main- 
taining points  between  the  extreme  limit  (two  hundred  and 
forty-seven  pounds  and  two  hundred)  his  actual  weight 
sank  even  below  that  minimum.  Berliners  even  demon- 
strated their  interest  so  far  as  to  erect  a  tablet  bearing  the 
record  of  these  annual  variations  in  Bismarck's  weight;  an 
incident  which  goes  to  prove  the  fanaticism  of  the  Germans 
for  their  great  man — their  "  unser  Enzige  "  as  they  say. 

The  obsessions  which  in  nervous  temperaments  leads  to 
the  formation  of  certain  habits,  the  daily  repetition  of  certain 
acts,  led  Bismarck  to  include  his  entire  family  in  his  own 
system  of  weighing  and  measuring.  The  measuring-ma- 
chine, of  which  we  have  still  to  speak,  is  permanently  fast- 
ened to  the  wall  of  another  room.  The  Prince  one  day 
amused  himself,  December  31,  1880,  by  having  all  his  fam- 
ily pass  under  this  instrument,  with  the  results  given  below : 

Bismarck  I  metre  880 

Count  Herbert I       "       860 

Count   Wilhelm I       "       851 

Count  Rantzau I       "       780 

Mme.  von  Bismarck I  714 

Countess  Rantzau I       "       716 

As  this  demonstration  proves,  the  average  height  of  the 
family  is  very  respectable;  few  families  in  France  could  ex- 
ceed it.    Bismarck's  stature  is  exceptional  even  in  Prussia, 
(  which   explains  the  surprise  of  Prince  William  in   1847, 
when  the  young  Referendary  was  first  presented  to  him. 


164  The  Real  Bismarck. 

The  hereditary  Prince  could  not  refrain  from  saying:  "  It 
appears  that  the  civil  government  is  at  present  recruiting  its 
referendaries  from  the  royal  guard  " — which  was  composed 
of  the  tallest  men  in  the  country. 

The  furniture  of  the  bedroom,  which  is  very  simple,  in- 
cludes the  bed — a  rather  large  one;  a  wardrobe,  a  monu- 
mental dressing-bureau,  a  divan  and  an  armchair  exclusively 
for  the  use  of  the  dogs ;  some  wooden  chairs,  a  cheval-mirror 
and  a  set  of  shelves  laden  with  brochures  and  "  bedside 
books  "  ;  among  the  last  the  German  writer  from  whom 
these  details  are  borrowed,  affirms  that  he  has  seen  a  Prayer- 
Book  and  a  volume  of  the  "  Meditations  "  of  Luther;  even 
a  kind  of  religious  almanac  in  which  are  inscribed  the 
Prince's  own  daily  meditations.  If  this  be  true  one  may  be 
permitted  to  attribute  these  practices  rather  to  a  praise- 
worthy desire  upon  Bismarck's  part  to  render  himself  worthy 
of  his  degree  of  Doctor  of  Theology  than  to  a  genuine  devo- 
tion, which  must  have  been  somewhat  tardily  inspired. 

A  door  near  these  shelves  leads  to  the  Prince's  wardrobe- 
room  and  to  Pinnow's  chamber.  The  word  wardrobe-room 
here  employed  is  distinctly  hyperbolical,  for  the  room  con- 
tains little  besides  rows  of  boots  and  some  old  coats. 

Before  the  mirror  which  has  been  mentioned  the  Prince 
used  every  morning  to  attempt  to  shave  himself;  for  until 
late  years  he  has  always  shaved  himself;  now  his  hand  is 
doubtless  too  unsteady  to  perform  so  delicate  an  operation, 
and  upon  the  valet  probably  devolves  that,  duty;  I  say 
"  probably,"  because  it  is  a  mere  supposition.  A  supposi- 
tion, however,  which  is  likely  to  prove  true  when  it  is  remem- 
bered that  there  is  no  barber  at  Friedrichsruh  and  that  the 
male  population  of  the  village  is  reduced  to  availing  itself  of 
the  weekly  services  of  a  journeyman  barber.  Bismarck  has 
worn  a  beard  but  twice,  once  when,  at  Kissingen,  rheuma- 
tism disabled  his  right  arm;  and  afterward  at  Varzin,  during 


The  Master  of  Friedrichsruh  Visits  his  Domains. 


The  Real  Bismarck.  167 

an  attack  of  facial  neuralgia;  but  his  face  was  then  made  so 
unfamiliar  by  the  sudden  appearance  of  a  white  beard  that 
he  has  never  since  consented  to  wear  one. 

The  same  misadventure  arrived,  it  is  said,  to  the  Em- 
peror William  II.,  who,  in  the  course  of  a  trip  North,  per- 
mitted his  august  cheeks  to  be  invaded  by  a  pair  of  side- 
whiskers  such  as  his  illustrious  grandfather  wore;  but  as 
they  rendered  him  unrecognizable  he  was  forced  to  have 
them  instantly  removed  for  fear  of  further  compromising 
his  Imperial  dignity. 

The  family  portraits  so  numerous  in  other  rooms  are 
more  scattered  here;  noticeable,  nevertheless,  is  one  of 
Mme.  Bismarck;  another  of  Count  Wilhelm  as  a  youth;  an 
engraving  of  the  poet  Uhland  and  finally  a  magisterial  por- 
trait of  Dr.  Schwenninger,  by  Lenbach. 

Other  pictures  represent  still-life  or  studies  of  animals; 
their  presence  is  satisfactorily  explained  by  the  naturalistic 
tendencies  of  the  master.  The  last  room,  more  or  less  con- 
nected with  the  Prince's  apartment,  is  the  boudoir  of  the  late 
Princess ;  yet  the  word  "  boudoir,"  employed  by  the  German 
writers,  does  not  describe  such  a  room  as  would  call  for  the 
use  of  the  word  by  us;  for  we  are1  told  that  in  this  "  boudoir  " 
took  place  the  interminable  conferences  of  the  Princess  with 
her  chef.  At  present  it  contains  a  desk  and  chair,  from  the 
back  of  which  depends  a  funeral  crown  sent  by  the  Em- 
peror of  Germany.  The  desk,  which  has  nothing  in  common 
with  the  furniture  appropriate  to  a  boudoir,  was  the  Prin- 
cess's work-table  where  she  kept  her  household  accounts 
in  order,  recording  in  various  little  blank-books  her  numer- 
ous small  economies,  which  censorious  German  tongues 
pronounced  avarice. 

The  room  has  not  been  changed  since  the  death  of  the 
Princess.  Beside  the  desk  stands  a  marble  statue  of  the 
Prince.  The  pedestal  is  now  covered  with  innumerable 


1 68  The  Real  Bismarck. 

photographs  of  illustrious  persons  and  many  crowned  heads, 
all  accompanied  by  autographs — the  collection  overflowing 
upon  a  neighbouring  table. 

To  return  to  the  Prince's  bed-chamber,  it  is  actually  so 
near  the  railway  that  the  passing  of  an  express  shakes  its 
walls.  Perhaps  the  old  man  likes  to  hear  its  thunder  rolling 
through  his  sleepless  hours,  and  is  grateful  to  it  for  dispersing 
the  phantoms  and  for  overcoming  the  heavy  silence  of  certain 
nights,  now  that  he  has  no  longer  the  resource  of  hard  work, 
as  was  formerly  his  wont.  He  once  made  the  following 
admission  to  a  friend: 

"  The  silence  after  midnight  is  terrible;  it  arouses  all  the 
wicked  spirits  within  me  and  makes  me  a  victim  of  my  own 
fancy;  to  escape  them  I  am  obliged  to  rise  and  read  or 
write.  Often,  at  such  times,  have  I  imagined  in  advance  the 
whole  course  of  a  discussion,  first  permitting  my  adversaries 
to  speak,  then  replying  with  arguments  so  pertinent,  so  un- 
answerable, that,  fearing  to  forget  them  I  have  risen  and 
made  a  note  of  them;  yet  never,  never  have  I  been  able  to 
make  use  of  those  arguments;  they  were  too  subtile  to  be 
appreciated  by  the  generality  of  practical  men;  no,  the 
paper  and  ink  beside  my  bed  were  uselessly  wasted.  Not 
until  the  first  sounds  which  accompany  the  break  of  day  are 
heard  do  I  fall  asleep." 

From  this  it  may  be  supposed  that  Bismarck  is  not  an 
early  riser;  nevertheless  he  is  up  by  ten  o'clock  and  at  once 
has  his  mail  opened  while  he  completes  his  toilet  or  eats  his 
first  breakfast  of  eggs,  tea  or  coffee.  The  employment  of 
his  day,  which  formerly  consisted  in  long  walks  and  rides,  is 
now  confined  to  an  occasional  outing,  for  the  old  man  suf- 
fers greatly  from  rheumatism. 

We  must  now  speak  of  the  little  village  of  some  ninety  or 
a  hundred  souls,  disdained  by  geographers  yet  represented 
nevertheless  upon  the  wall  of  the  Landhaus  by  an  official 


The  Real  Bismarck.  169 

placard  so  prodigal  of  topographical  and  administrative  in- 
formation that  its  like  for  expansiveness  is  vainly  sought 
along  the  great  roads  leading  to  our  most  considerable  sous- 
prefectures.  I  give  herewith  an  exact  copy: 


FRIEDRICHSRUH 

Gutsbezirk  Schwarzenbek 

Amtsbezirk  Friedrichsruh 

Kreis-Herzogth :  Lauenburg 

Reg-Bez.  Schleswig 


Landvvehrbezirk 
Hauptmeldeamt 


Lubeck 
Caserne. 


This,  as  will  be  seen,  furnishes  all  the  indications  relative 
to  the  state — civil,  administrative  and  military  of  the  com- 
mune, and  may  serve  as  model  for  the  reforming  of  our  de- 
partmental and  parochial  sign-boards. 

At  Friedrichsruh,  however,  it  may  be  considered  a  super- 
fluity, the  few  houses  of  which  the  village  is  composed,  with 
the  exception  of  the  railway-station,  being  exclusively  the 
property  of  Bismarck  and  inhabited  without  an  exception 
by  his  own  employes. 

These  houses,  it  is  said,  Bismarck  has  acquired  by  a  long 
and  persevering  system  of  annexation. 

When  the  present  Duke  of  Lauenburg — the  Duchy  itself 
originated  from  a  contestable  annexation,  because  it  was 
a  part  of  the  price  of  the  victory  of  the  Prussian  army  over 
the  Danes — took  possession  of  his  domain,  he  applied  to 
his  subjects  the  system  of  optional  expropriation;  that  is, 
he  purchased  all  the  houses  which  their  proprietors  would 
consent  to  sell  for  money.  Two  small  ones  only  refused  his 
advances  and,  although  the  master  was  well-versed  in  such 


The  Real  Bismarck. 


matters  he  was  obliged  to  wait,  the  demand  appearing  to 
him  excessive. 

Did  the  recalcitrant  subjects  recognize  that  it  was  to  their 
benefit  to  permit  their  properties  to  be  annexed  by  the 


Bismarck  as  Colonel  of  the  Landwehr. 

Prince?  apparently  not,  for  they  resisted  until  1885,  it  is 
said,  in  which  year  a  number  of  Hamburg  notables  pur- 
chased those  properties  for  the  sum  of  40,000  marks  and 
offered  them  to  the  Prince  upon  the  anniversary  of  his 
seventieth  birthday. 


The  Real  Bismarck.  173 

Now,  therefore,  the  entire  annexation  of  the  village  is  an 
accomplished  fact;  the  inhabitants  of  Friedrichsruh  are  all 
the  Prince's  subjects,  forming  in  this  out-of-the-way  corner 
of  the  earth  a  kind  of  feudal  phalanstery,  the  members  of 
opposite  sex  marrying  among  themselves  and  taking  root 
in  the  place.  In  this  there  is  a  certain  advantage,  for  it  is 
not  easy  to  be  married  at  Friedrichsruh.  Not  only  is  there 
no  barber,  but  there  is  neither  church  nor  pastor.  In  order 
to  obtain  the  benediction  of  the  Church,  the  contracting  par- 
ties are  obliged  to  make  a  little  wedding  journey  "  before 
the  letter  "  of  twenty  minutes  in  the  Bwnmelzug  [omnibus], 
to  Schwarzenbek.  Formerly  the  sacraments  were  admin- 
istered by  the  chief-forester,  which  made  the  ceremony  a 
civil  function;  now  Count  Rantzau,  as  Mayor  of  the  com- 
mune, performs  that  service. 

It  is  a  singular  commune,  indeed,  for  there  is  also  an  ab- 
sence of  schools,  and  the  "  natives  "  are  forced  to  send  their 
progeny  to  Auenmuhl,  half-a-league  distant,  if  it  is  desired 
to  give  them  even  the  most  meager  instruction.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  roads  and  paths  through  the  forest  swarm 
with  foresters  in  uniform  and  busy  wood-cutters,  whose 
business  it  is  to  fill  the  great  steam  saw-mill  two  steps  from 
the  railway-station. 

This  very  important  saw-mill,  founded  and  managed  by 
the  Prince  himself,  turns  out  annually  a  million  of  marks1 
worth  of  wood,  the  greater  part  of  which  is  destined  for  the 
paving  of  the  large  cities.  In  Rome  and  Berlin  are  some 
streets  so  paved;  not,  it  is  said,  to  the  unqualified  satisfac- 
tion of  the  Berliners. 

The  mill  in  question,  notwithstanding  its  profitableness, 
gave  the  Prince  some  trouble  in  the  days  of  his  chancellor- 
ship, and  it  frequently  happened  that  the  smaller  industry 
hampered  the  success  of  the  great  national  industry  of 
which  the  diplomatist  was  then  the  chief  purveyor.  The  re- 


174  The  Real  Bismarck. 

porters  of  that  time  represent  the  Prime  Minister  as  inter- 
rupting his  interminable  conferences  with  the  head-forester 
in  order  to  settle  with  all  haste  the  affairs  of  Russia,  Austria 
and  France,  or  to  regulate  his  accounts  with  England;  then 


Bismarck  in  1894. 


plunging  again  with  enthusiasm  into  a  study  -of  the  most 
practicable  ways  and  means  to  convert  into  paving-blocks 
the  centenarian  timber  of  the  Sachsenwald.  Nowadays 
the  older  trees  are  more  respected.  The  aged  confraternity 


The  Real  Bismarck.  i/5 

seconding,  Bismarck  is  more  willing  to  spare  old  trees,  old 
people  and  old  animals.  The  Sachsenwald,  in  which  are  to 
be  found  all  varieties  of  trees — oaks,  elms,  pines,  chestnuts, 
birches,  beeches — the  full-grown  ones  extending  over  a 
total  area  or  eight  thousand  hectares  [over  sixteen  thousand 
acres]  is  divided  into  several  lots,  the  larger  number  of 
which  is  preserved  for  hunting  or  converted  into  parks  for 
the  raising  of  game.  The  forest  itself  is  agreeably  diversi- 
fied with  hills  rising  here  and  there,  and  cleared  spaces  from 
which  a  glimpse  is  had  of  a  sparkling  lake  idylically  framed 
in  its  sylvan  surroundings ;  with  tiny  vales  where  the  forest  is 
more  dense  and  where  beneath  the  tall  trees  which  form  a 
continuous  arch,  wind  clear  brooks  filled  with  excellent 
trout. 

Doubtless  the  greater  number  of  legends  of  good  and 
evil  genii — gnomes,  sylphs,  dwarfs,  ghosts,  etc.,  who,  ac- 
cording to  tradition,  inhabit  the  forest,  is  a  direct  legacy 
from  the  Middle  Ages;  yet  there  are  also  modern  ones. 
Such  is  the  fantastic  "  Waul,"  a  kind  of  mysterious  Horla 
who  goes  about  with  two  dogs.  Old  inhabitants  are  said  to 
have  seen  one  of  these  dogs  forgotten  and  left  by  him  under 
a  bed;  it  was  a  hunting  dog,  spotted  black-and-white.  He 
remained  for  a  year  stretched  out  in  the  same  place,  never 
touching  food,  only  growling  when  a  man  or  other  animal 
attempted  to  approach  him.  Then  he  disappeared  as  he 
had  come,  carried  off  by  the  Waul  in  one  of  his  nightly 
rounds.  There  is  also  a  white  horse  which  wanders  freely 
in  the  forest,  his  head  reaching  above  the  tallest  tree;  his 
appearance  is  generally  the  herald  of  misfortune.  Neither 
Bismarck  nor  his  family  has  encountered  it. 


XIV. 

At  Varzin— Under  the  Trees— The  Chateau  and  Park  of  Varzin— 
Bismarck's  Sense  of  Precision — Mistaken  Vocation — Falls  from 
His  Horse— Cerebral  Pathology— Too  Much  Postal  Matter- 
Bismarck  Imitates  Mr.  Herbert  Spencer — The  Village  Inn 
— The  Mysterious  Staircase — How  Bismarck  Evades  Importu- 
nate Visitors— Personal  Pride— The  Opinion  of  a  Belgian 
Diplomatist — Lugubrious  Avowals. 

"  Forests  all  resemble  one  another  " — has  said  a  cele- 
brated thinker:  "  their  appearance  gives  one  the  same  illu- 
sion as  that  supplied  by  human  life  itself.  From  afar,  they 
have  an  imposing  air;  they  are  full  of  mystery  and  seduc- 
tion; when  one  penetrates  them  it  is  to  find  one's  self  sim- 
ply among  trees."  This  relieves  us  of  the  duty  of  describing 
the  forest  of  Varzin,  which,  with  an  added  note  of  pictu- 
resqueness,  in  every  way  resembles  the  Sachsenwald.  There 
are  to  be  found  the  same  arches  of  verdure,  the  same  jungles 
of  tall  beeches  and  pines,  the  same  rushing  streams,  the 
same  pools — with,  indeed,  one  more — a  marshy  lake,  cov- 
ered with  reeds  and  water-lilies,  which  extends  along  the  foot 
of  the  wooded  hills  connecting  the  villages  of  Varzin  and 
Wussow. 

The  Prince's  chateau — for  Varzin  is  a  genuine  castle  al- 
though not  particularly  imposing — is  situated  a  little  be- 
yond the  village,  from  which  it  is  separated  by  the  park  and 
the  high-road.  It  consists  of  an  old  seigneurial  mansion  to 
which  a  more  modern  construction  was  added  after  1871, 
provided  with  two  wings,  their  walls  finished  in  yellow 
rough-cast.  A  large  terrace,  ornamented  with  a  double  row 

176 


The  Chancellor's  Dogs. 


The  Real  Bismarck.  i?9 

of  dwarf  palms,  leads  to  a  court  of  honour  and  to  the  veran- 
dah where  the  Prince  generally  receives  his  visitors.  This 
verandah  itself  communicates  with  a  conservatory  which 
opens  upon  a  garden  of  curiously  designed  beds. 

The  park  extends  beyond  the  garden  with  its  wooded  ter- 
races, its  extensive  greensward  sloping  gently  upward,  or- 
namented with  statuary  and  crowned  with  a  small,  airy 
temple,  from  which  there  is  a  beautiful  view.  It  includes 
more  than  forty  acres  planted  in  oaks  and  beeches,  and 
reaches  to  a  little  river  which,  half-a-league  farther  on,  feeds 
the  mills  already  mentioned.  Access  is  gained  to  the  park 
by  a  little  bridge  thrown  across  a  lake  stocked  with  gold-fish, 
trout  and  carp. 

The  interior  of  the  chateau  reveals  at  the  first  glance  its 
superiority  to  Friedrichsruh  in  point  of  comfort;  even  the 
decoration  of  the  rooms  displays  a  more  artistic  taste.  In 
the  Prince's  study  all  the  furniture  is  of  old  oak  and  Re- 
naissance in  design.  The  walls  are  wainscoted  with  oak  to 
the  height  of  two  metres.  A  monumental  fireplace  in  green 
faience  occupies  one  of  the  corners.  It  was  constructed  es- 
pecially large  that  whole  tree-trunks  might  be  burned  in  it. 
Upon  either  side  of  the  chimney  is  a  collection  of  escutch- 
eons which  also  serves  to  ornament;  among  others,  that  of 
Alsace-Lorraine,  and  the  modern  escutcheon  of  the  Prince 
with  the  famous  motto  chosen  by  himself:  "  In  trinitate 
robur;  " — and  another,  Protestant,  form  of  "  With  the  aid  of 
God,  by  the  grace  of  God,"  which  is  incessantly  repeated, 
like  the  leitmotiv  in  music,  in  the  letters  and  informal  con- 
versation of  Bismarck. 

A  divan  extends  along  the  wall  opposite  the  door.  A  long 
table  placed  before  this  seat  is  covered  with  brochures  and 
numerous  maps.  Bismarck  has  always  had  a  passion  for 
topographical  and  ethnographical  maps.  The  same  instinct 
of  mathematical  precision  which  induces  him  to  constantly 


i8o  The  Real  Bismarck.      . 

consult  thermometers  and  barometers  to  learn  in  what  tem- 
perature and  under  what  atmospheric  pressure  he  is  living, 
which  induces  him  to  attach  considerable  importance  to  the 
figures  which  represent  to  a  millimetre  his  exact  weight  and 
height,  makes  him  unable  to  support  the  idea  of  following  a 
path,  the  detours  of  which  he  does  not  know  in  advance; 
or  of  venturing  into  a  country  of  which  he  has  not  previ- 
ously studied  the  physical  aspect  and  the  ways  of  communi- 
cation. Never  has  he  or  any  member  of  his  family  started 
upon  a  journey  without  having  first  studied  the  maps,  and 
he  invariably  selects  the  shortest  and  most  comfortable 
route. 

-  The  walls  of  the  study  are  adorned  with  souvenirs  of  the 
war  of  1866 — paintings  and  photographs.  The  desk  stands 
near  one  of  the  windows  which  opens  upon  the  court  of 
honour.  A  shell  [obus]  serves  as  a  paper-weight;  there  is 
also  a  tobacco  chest,  bearing,  carved  in  relief,  the  head  of  the 
famous  "  Sultan "  whose  tragic  death  was  related  in  an 
earlier  chapter.  It  should  be  observed  that  the  details  here 
given  belong  to  the  period  when  Varzin  was  the  country- 
seat  habitually  occupied  by  Bismarck;  some  of  the  objects 
mentioned  have  since  been  transported  to  Friedrichsruh. 
Even  the  study  has  been  abandoned  to  Count  Herbert's  use 
and  occasionally  serves  as  a  reception-room. 

Among  other  rooms  is  to  be  mentioned  a  brilliantly- 
lighted  dining-room,  a  most  artistically  gilded  salon  and  a 
billiard-room.  The  halls  and  staircases  connecting  the  two 
rooms  are  decorated  with  the  antlers  of  stags,  deer,  mouflons 
— trophies  of  the  chase  which  are  the  personal  souvenirs  of 
the  Bismarck  of  other  days. 

When  the  Chancellor  spent  his  summers  at  Varzin  he  led 
a  life  which  would  exhaust  the  most  active  temperament. 
His  vacations  brought  but  an  increase  of  work  of  which 
oiir  Excellencies  who  retire  to  their  country-seats  for  rest 


The  Real  Bismarck.  181 

can  have  no  idea.  He  spent  his  mornings  interviewing  al- 
ternately his  head-forester,  the  gardener,  the  architect,  his 
familiar  councillor  Busch  and  the  superintendent  of  his 
three  mills,  Fuchsmiihle,  Hammermuhle  and  Campmuhle. 
The  forester  particularly  then  became  the  time  damne  of  the 
Chancellor,  whose  passion  for  sylvan  beauties  is  already 
known,  which  has  led  him  sometimes  to  say :  "  I  should 
have  been  a  forester,  I  have  missed  my  vocation."  Hunting 
and  long  rides  were  then  naturally  the  favorite  distractions 
of  the  chatelain  of  Varzin.  An  accomplished  horseman,  Bis- 
marck rode  a  furious  pace  the  instant  he  was  in  the  saddle. 
It  was  the  tolle  Yunker  [mad  squire]  of  earlier  times  which 
then  reappeared  in  the  diplomat.  A  dangerous  delight,  how- 
ever, were  these  mad  gallops;  they  resulted  in  more  than 
fifty  falls,  some  of  which  were  terrible.  The  last  occurred 
near  Varzin  when  the  Chancellor  had  three  ribs  broken. 

"  As  to  falls,"  he  once  said  to  Mr.  Busch  and  his  col- 
leagues, "  I  had  one  which  was  followed  by  extraordinary 
results,  proving  how  far  human  thought  depends  upon  the 
physical  state  of  the  mind.  We  were  returning  from  the 
chase  one  evening,  my  brother  and  I,  pushing  our  horses 
to  the  utmost;  suddenly  my  brother  heard  behind  him  a 
great  noise;  it  was  my  head  coming  in  contact  with  the 
road. 

"  My  horse,  startled  by  a  carriage  backing  toward  him, 
had  shied,  reared  and  fallen  over  backward.  I  lost  conscious- 
ness and  when  I  regained  it  I  was  in  a  state  of  waking  som- 
nambulism. A  part  of  my  faculties  remained  unawakened. 
I  examined  my  horse;  the  girth  was  broken;  I  mounted  the 
horse  of  the  whipper-in  and  we  returned  to  the  house.  The 
dogs  greeted  us  as  usual  with  joyous  barks.  I  did  not  rec- 
ognize them,  and  mistaking  them  for  strange  animals 
threatened  them  with  my  whip. 

"  I  then  related  that  the  whipper-in  had  fallen  from  his 


1 82  The  Real  Bismarck. 

horse  and  gave  the  order  to  go  and  seek  him  with  a  litter;  as 
I  was  not  obeyed  I  became  furious  and  reproached  my 
brother  for  his  inhumanity;  I  felt  at  the  moment  as  though  I 
were  both  the  whipper-in  and  myself.  Dinner  was  served, 
and  I  sat  down  with  a  good  appetite;  then  I  went  to  bed  and 
sleep  restored  me,  for  the  next  day  I  remembered  nothing 
about  it." 

The  case  is  not  so  extraordinary  as  Bismarck  thought. 
These  phenomena — of  partial  amnesia  complicated  by  a 
doubling  of  the  personality — frequently  follow  traumatic  ac- 
cidents and  the  recent  works  upon  the  pathological  physiol- 
ogy of  the  brain  throw  sufficient  light  upon  them. 

The  two  manufactories,  of  which  pictures  have  been  given, 
are  situated  at  the  distance  of  half-a-league  from  Varzin 
upon  the  little  river  Wipper.  The  water-wheels  supply  the 
force  utilized  in  the  mills  to  convert  the  wood  cut  by  the 
foresters  into  paper  and  carton-pate.  This  paper,  unlike  the 
paving-blocks  made  at  Friedrichsruh,  is  greatly  liked  in 
Germany,  and  orders  at  certain  seasons  arrive  in  such  num- 
bers that  the  mills  are  insufficient  to  fill  them  all.  The 
products  of  these  paper-factories  have  enabled  Bismarck  to 
reduce  the  considerable  expense  attendant  upon  the  acqui- 
sition of  the  estate,  its  aggrandizement  and  repair. 

After  the  reports  and  consultations  of  the  morning  came 
the  visits  to  the  plantations,  fisheries  and  farms  which  fur- 
nished all  the  provisions,  except  wine,  consumed  at  Varzin. 
This  picture  of  the  Prince's  energy  would,  however,  be  in-  > 
complete  if  mention  of  the  occupations  which  he  created  for] 
himself  were  omitted  from  those  more  elegant,  created  by  j 
his  numerous  correspondents  and  visitors. 

What  figures  will  suffice  to  give  an  idea  of  the  various 
calamities  attached  to  the  popularity  which  so  many  enemies 
have  envied  Bismarck.  In  a  single  year  the  appeals  for 
charity  addressed  to  him  amounted  to  nearly  2,500,000  dol- 1 


The  Real  Bismarck. 


183 


lars,  and  the  post-office  in  the  village  transmitted  to  him 
650,000  letters  and  10,000  telegrams. 

This  record  is  enough  to  discourage  the  most  robust  man. 
Finding  it  impossible  to  make  headway  against  such  an 
overwhelming  postal  delivery,  even  by  retaining  his  secre- 
taries and  himself  working  late  into  the  night,  he  resolved  to 


The  Last  of  the  Chancellor's  Rides. 

i 

insert  prohibitory  notices  in  the  journals,  which,  however, 
discouraged  none. 

More  recently,  Mr.  Herbert  Spencer,  in  England,  has  been 
obliged  to  have  recourse  to  a  similar  expedient;  he  has  ad- 
dressed to  his  correspondents  (and  perhaps  continues  to  ad- 
dress them)  printed  circulars,  informing  them  that  his  ill- 


1 84  The  Real  Bismarck. 

health  and  a  lack  of  time  obliges  him  to  decline  replying  to 
all  letters  concerning  his  personality,  his  occupations,  his 
ideas  or  his  works. 

As  to  visitors,  Bismarck  had  no  other  resource  against 
them  than  to  rigorously  close  his  doors  against  them,  as  he 
still  does  at  Friedrichsruh. 

This  was  the  origin  of  the  vogue  which  the  little  inn  in  the 
village  enjoyed,  for  it  served  thereafter  as  a  refuge  for  the 
visitors  who  frequently  prolonged  their  stay  three  or  four 
days  in  the  hope  of  forcing  an  entrance  at  an  unguarded  mo- 
ment. After  the  attempt  of  Kullmann  a  guard  was  placed 
permanently  in  the  inn,  following  the  Prince  from  place  to 
place.  This  arrangement,  however,  did  not  prevent  the  visits 
of  the  more  persistent  pilgrims  from  being  renewed  again 
and  again;  among  them,  it  is  said,  were  sometimes  illustrious; 
pe  r  sons  whose  names  and  personalities  were  protected  by 
an  incognito;  there  were  even  women,  who  left  upon  the 
imaginations  of  the  good  people  of  Varzin  an  impression  of 
romantic  mystery. 

When  Bismarck  was  surprised  by  a  visitor  who,  by  one 
means  or  another  had  succeeded  in  effecting  an  entrance 
he  disappeared  by  a  subterranean  staircase  probably  leading 
to  the  cellar.  One  day  when  Herr  Busch  arrived  at  the 
chateau,  he  saw  the  Prince  engulfed  in  this  passage  anc 
asked  him  if  he  were  descending  into  the  oubliettes. 

''  This  staircase,"  said  Bismarck,  "  serves  me  as  a  means 
of  escape  from  the  unexpected  bores.  Hearing  your  postil- 
ion's horn  I  was  preparing  to  eclipse  myself,  forgetting  that 
you  were  to  come  to-day.  You  have  no  idea  of  the  life  these 
importunate  people  lead  me.  A  fellow  sent  me  word  one 
day  that  if  I  refused  to  receive  him  he  would  go  out  and 
hang  himself.  I  was  exasperated  and  replied  that  if  that 
painful  extremity  appeared  to  him  inevitable  I  would  have 
fine,  strong,  new  rope  sent  him,  but  that  he  should  not  see 


The  Old  Man  of  the  Sachsenwald. 


The  Real  Bismarck.  187 

me.  And  the  man,  be  it  understood,  did  not  hang  him- 
self." The  Prince  had  still  another  method  of  evicting  per- 
severing visitors  which  has  given  rise  to  a  very  amusing 
anecdote,  whether  or  not  it  is  true. 

A  foreign  ambassador  had  been  for  a  long  time  in  con- 
ference with  the  Chancellor  when  it  occurred  to  him,  during 
a  pause  in  the  conversation,  to  ask  Bismarck  by  what  means 
he  rid  himself  of  pertinacious  callers.  "  Oh,  it  is  very  sim- 
ple," replied  Bismarck;  "  when  my  wife  thinks  the  audience 
too  long  she  sends  for  me  upon  some  urgent  pretext  and  the 
individual  is  obliged  to  raise  the  siege." 

As  he  finished  speaking  a  domestic  entered  and  begged 
his  master  to  accord  the  Princess  a  few  moments.  The  am- 
bassador very  nearly  lost  countenance  and  perhaps  even 
Bismarck  himself  was  a  trifle  disconcerted  by  the  irony  of 
the  coincidence;  at  any  rate  the  interview  was  promptly 
terminated  by  the  departure  of  the  foreign  diplomat. 

And  now  would  the  reader  know  Bismarck's  opinion  of  his 
own  activity? 

The  following  characteristic  detail,  reported  by  a  guest  at 
Varzin  or  at  Friedrichsruh,  it  matters  not  which — will  tell 
us.  One  day  while  at  table  a  telegram  from  Berlin  was 
handed  to  the  Prince,  who  rose  directly,  begging  his  guests 
to  excuse  him  as  the  telegram  required  an  immediate  reply. 
"  For  you  see,"  he  said,  "  this  telegram  is  from  my  son 
Herbert,  and  if  I  do  not  reply  he  will  send  me  a  second  and  a 
third;  he  will  not  leave  me  an  instant  in  peace  until  I  have 
answered.  Herbert  is  pitiless;  he  knows  only  duty  and  will 
not  admit  that  one  may  be  freed  from  its  laws.  If  I  had,  in 
my  youth,  been  as  active  as  my  filius  I  should  have  been  still 
other  than  I  am." 

In  spite  of  all  these  qualities  Bismarck  was  very  severely 
judged  by  his  colleagues  in  diplomacy.  The  following  cita- 
tion is  what  the  late  Baron  von  Northumb — then  ambassa- 


1 88  The  Real  Bismarck. 

dor  from  Belgium  to  Berlin — wrote  of  him  in  1877,  when  the 
Oriental  question  reappeared  upon  the  horizon  of  interna- 
tional political  preoccupations : 

As  to  the  role  which  Bismarck  will  play  in  this  question, 
all  that  is  to  be  said  is  that  he  is  dominated  by  the  fear  of  a 
Franco-Russian  alliance.  Had  he  an  elevated  mind  and  a 
generous  spirit,  one  might  be  able  to  conjecture,  but  the 
Chancellor  is  not  guided  by  the  interests  of  humanity  nor 
even  by  those  of  Europe.  For  him  politics  is  but  a  dynamic 
force.  He  disdains  mankind;  he  has  but  two  objects:  to 
accomplish  his  work;  the  grandeur  of  Germany  and  his 
own.  He  says  he  is  profoundly  unhappy,  and  he  is.  His 
equilibrium  is  destroyed.  He  has  just  made  a  pretence  of 
wishing  to  renounce  his  power  but  he  would  not  know  how 
to  live  without  it,  without  the  admiration  of  the  public,  and 
he  proves  it  by  the  attention  which  he  pays  to  the  press.  The 
slightest  attack  irritates  him.  I  search  vainly  for  his  coun- 
terpart in  history.  The  man  cannot  be  judged  without  tak- 
ing into  consideration  his  temperament  as  it  has  been  devel- 
oped by  his  unprecedented  success.  His  power  has  become 
a  kind  of  ministerial  Caesarism.  He  would  have  good  health 
would  he  consent  to  apportion  his  time  and  his  occupations 
more  conformably  with  reason,  and  better  understood  self- 
government.  He  goes  to  bed  at  four  in  the  morning,  to 
sleep  at  seven,  and  rises  in  the  afternoon.  By  that  time  busi- 
ness has  accumulated  and  he  regards  the  labour  before  him 
with  repugnance,  even  with  anger! 

The  picture  may  be  a  trifle  dark,  yet  at  the  period  during 
which  Baron  Northumb  wrote  these  lines  Bismarck  him- 
self had  begun  to  doubt  the  wisdom  of  his  work  and  was 
overcome  at  times  by  an  indescribable  melancholy.  His  bi- 
ographer, Herr  Busch,  paints  this  state  of  his  mind  in  mov- 
ing lines,  which  we  here  transcribe  without  commentary: 

"  It  was  at  Varzin,  in  1877;  the  twilight  was  falling  and, 
according  to  his  custom  after  dinner,  the  Prince  was  seated 
near  the  fireplace  in  the  large  salon,  where  stands  Rauch's 


The  Real  Bismarck.  189 

statue:  '  Victory  distributing  Crowns.'  After  a  prolonged 
silence,  during  which  he  from  time  to  time  threw  pine-cones 
on  the  fire,  looking  straight  before  him  he  began  to  lament 
that  his  political  activity  had  brought  him  little  satisfaction 
and  still  less,  friends.  None  had  given  him  credit  for  what 
he  had  accomplished;  his  work  had  brought  happiness  to 


To  Bismarck — Erected  by  the  Students  of  Germany. 

none;  to  himself,  to  his  family,  to  none  that  could  be  named. 
Someone  replied  that  he  had  at  least  made  the  happiness  of 
a  great  nation.  He  sadly  shook  his  head  as  he  replied: '  Yes, 
but  how  many  people  have  I  made  unhappy?  were  not  it  for 


190  The  Real  Bismarck. 

me,  three  great  wars  would  have  been  avoided,  eighty  thou- 
sand men  would  not  have  perished;  fathers,  mothers,  broth- 
ers, sisters,  widows,  would  not  have  been  plunged  into 
mourning.  It  is  a  business  between  God  and  myself,  but  I 
have  reaped  little  or  no  joy  from  my  exploits ;  nothing  but 
vexation,  disquietude,  chagrin.'  He  continued  in  this  tone 
some  time  longer,  while  his  auditors  were  silent  and  sur- 
prised, never  having  heard  him  speak  so;  and  while  the 
'  victory '  seemed  to  be  throwing  her  crowns  to  the  old 
man,  we  thought  of  the  discouraged  lamentations  in  Ec- 
clesiastes;  'Then  I  looked  on  all  the  works  that  my  hands 
had  wrought,  and  on  the  labour  that  I  had  laboured  to  do : 
and  behold,  all  was  vanity  and  vexation  of  spirit  and  there 
was  no  profit  under  the  sun.' 

"  The  Chancellor  has  since  frequently  thus  expressed  him- 
self," adds  Herr  Busch;  "  and  almost  in  the  same  words." 


XV. 
ICONOGRAPHIC  NOTES. 

Mr.  John  Grand  Carteret  has  published  a  very  complete 
and  attractive  work  upon  Bismarck  in  caricature.  There 
are  to  be  found,  ingeniously  classified  and  commentated, 
most  of  the  fancies  by  which  designers  the  world  over  have 
been  inspired  through  the  faits  et  gestes  of  the  giant  of  Ger- 
man politics. 

My  own  task  is  infinitely  more  modest,  for  the  simple  rea- 
son that  the  caricaturists  have  rarely  attacked  his  private  life, 
as  it  has  offered  little  temptation  to  that  satirical  fancy  which 
is  necessarily  the  note  of  all  caricature.  Tradesmen  more 
than  all  have  exploited  the  political  Bismarck.  The  heads  of 
Bismarck  upon  nutcrackers,  inkstands,  paper-weights,  in 
Swiss  wood  carvings,  are  generally  heads  of  a  helmeted  ogre 
in  no  sense  representative  of  the  handsome  features  of  the 
old  hermit  of  the  Sachsenwald.  The  same  may  be  said  of 
the  heads  upon  pipes,  which  represent  the  martial  Bismarck; 
the  severe  effigy  of  the  statesman-cuirassier. 

True,  the  greater  number  of  these  objects  belong  to  the 
period  before  Bismarck  had  retired  from  the  direction  of 
Germany;  yet  again  in  1894  was  to  be  found  among  the 
commercial  advertisements  of  German  journals,  mention  of 
a  certain  liquor  called  "  German  Unity,"  presented  under 
the  auspices  of  a  patriotic  design  representing  the  eternal 
Colonel  of  Cuirassiers,  arm  in  arm  with  the  Emperor  Will- 
iam II. 

Our  readers  who  know  the  weakness  which  Bismarck  had 

191 


192 


The  Real  Bismarck. 


for  this  uniform  will  not  doubt  that  he  saw  with  pleasure  the 
universal  consecration,  in  graphic  art,  of  his  military  type. 
Little  did  it  concern  him  that  it  should  appear  in  a  grotesque, 
caricatured  form.  It  enhanced  his  popularity  and  that  suf- 
ficed. 

The  most  generally  caricatured  man  of  the  age,  with  Na- 


Liquor  Amenities  of  United  Germany. 

poleon  III.  and  the  Sultan,  has  never  felt  the  slightest  re- 
sentment against  his  caricaturists;  perhaps  in  this  indul- 
gence is  to  be  discovered  the  humorist's  secret  sympathy 
with  all  forms  of  humour. 

A  short  time  after  the  death  of  Napoleon  III.  the  Sultan 


The  Real  Bismarck. 


193 


intimated  to  European  cabinets  that  the  pertinacity  of  the 
caricaturists  in  taking  him  for  a  "  Turk's  head  "  was  highly 
displeasing  to  him.  Possibly  he  expressed  himself  in  more 
diplomatic  language,  but  these  are  almost  the  words  used  by 
Bismarck  to  translate  for  the  benefit  of  his  intimates  the 


What  is  to  be  Seen  in  the  Face  of  Prince  von  Bismarck. 


ideas  of  the  "  Commander  of  the  Faithful;  "  and  he  added: 
"  Napoleon  dead,  the  Sultan  in  hiding,  I  shall  remain  the 
only  prey  of  those  gentlemen."  Then,  fearing  that  he  might 
be  misunderstood,  he  continued:  "  Not  that  I  am  uneasy 
about  it — on  the  contrary !  I  am  merely  wondering  whether 
I  shall  suffice  for  them." 

If  we  are  to  regard  the  psychological  kit  motiv  developed 
in  the  preface  to  this  book  and  which  reappears  in  most  of 
the  chapters,  according  to  the  good  Wagnerian  formulum 
the  first  place  here  should  be  given  to  a  caricature  by 
Moloch,  conceived  after  the  Lavaterian  process,  which  con- 


194  The  Real  Bismarck. 

sists  in  discovering  unexpected  likenesses  in  salient  features 
— progressively  denaturalized — of  the  human  face. 

It  is  seen  by  our  engraving,  that  in  applying  this  process 
to  Bismarck's  face,  the  designer,  Moloch,  finally  evolved 
from  it  an  acrobatic  figure  poised  upon  his  two  hands,  with 
his  legs  in  air;  an  acrobat,  a  rope-dancer,  a  clown,  if  you  will, 
consequently  a  humorist;  for  between  the  clown  and  the 
humorist  there  is  but  a  step,  a  step  which  Prince  von  Bis- 
marck took  for  a  "  yes  "  or  a  "  no  "  throughout  his  career. 

But  I  have  anticipated  in  introducing  this  caricature,  be- 
cause it  supports  my  system.  I  now  go  back  several  years. 

The  first  caricatures  relative  to  the  private  life  of  Bismarck 
are  found  in  the  Kladderadatsch,  of  1872.  Previous  to  that 
time  the  comic  journals  presented  Bismarck  under  terrible 
forms,  as  a  lion,  or  as  the  cat  asleep  while  the  mice  dance,  or 
as  a  blacksmith  forging  fire-arms;  as  a  conqueror,  a  me- 
chanician, a  pilot,  an  equilibrist,  etc. 

The  Kladderadatsch  should  be  considered  as  the  creator 
of  the  Bismarckian  caricature. 

A  curious  coincidence  is  the  fact  that  the  first  great  cari- 
cature of  the  Kladderadatsch  in  which  Bismarck  figures 
(1849)  represents  the  future  Iron  Chancellor  (at  a  period 
when  he  little  dreamed  of  possessing  that  title)  as  a  mailed 
crusader.  But  this  redoubtable  crusader,  who  holds  in  one 
hand  his  genealogical  tree,  in  the  other  his  rod,  shows  at  the 
same  time — a  fine  allusion  to  his  retrogressive  ideas — the 
suggestion  of  a  crawfish  in  the  antennae  which  spring  from 
his  helmet  and  the  cotyledonous  tail  falling  over  his  heels. 
The  entire  caricature  is  a  satire  directed  against  the  pa- 
trons of  the  Gazette  de  la  Croix,  founded  by  the  feudal 
nobility  as  a  reaction  against  the  revolutionary  movement 
of  1884  and  to  assist  the  triumph  of  absolutism  and  divine 
right. 

Note  this  detail,  which  is  of  real  importance  to  the  history 


The  Real  Bismarck. 


J95 


of  Bismarckian  caricature.  Until  1862  Bismarck  was  pict- 
ured with  a  head  of  hair  and  a  beard;  but  the  hair  rapidly 
diminished  and  was  replaced,  in  the  designs  of  the  Klad- 
deradatsch  by  the  point  of  a  helmet.  On  May  5,  1862,  Bis- 
marck, sent  as  ambassador  to  Paris,  began  to  shave. 

From  the  following  year  appeared  the  three  legendary 
hairs,  of  which  the  Kladderadatsch  is  the  creator.  This 
journal  claims  the  distinction  in  a  poem  addressed  to  Bis- 
marck in  1880,  a  propos  of  a  fine  incurred  by  one  of  its  artists 


First  Appearance  of  the  Three  Hairs. 


for  the  "  offences  to  the  Chancellor."  Here  is  the  strophe  in 
which  appears  the  claim  and  which  points  the  iconographic 
history  of  Bismarck: 

"  Qui  t'a  pose  sur  le  front  plus  d'une  guirlande  de  fleurs? 
Qui  a  chante  plus  d'une  chanson  en  ton  honneur? 
Qui  t'a  pare  de  la  triple  aigrette  capillairef 
Celui-la  meme  que  tu  viens  de  prendre  pour  cible. 
Ton  courroux  de  deux  javelots  de  crible. 


196  The  Real  Bismarck. 

Le  premier  transperc.a,  6  tristesse  amere, 
L'auteur  de  tous  tes  portraits,  homme  irascible, 
Le  second  heureusement  se  perdit  dans  le  sable    .     .    . 
Non,  Otto,  de  ta  part  ce  n'etait  guere  aimable." 

In  1872  the  same  Kladdcradatsch  exhibits  the  first  rural 
Bismarck.  Tyras  sleeps  with  his  head  resting  upon  the  knees 
of  his  master,  who  is  crumbling  some  bread  for  the  geese 
that  are  flapping  their  wings  at  his  feet.  The  chatelain  of 


The  Rustic  Appears  in'  Fine  Weather.  The  Soldier  Appears  in  Storm. 

A  Barometrical  Fancy. 


Varzin  at  the  same  time  holds  over  his  head  an  umbrella  to 
protect  himself  from  the  shower  of  letters  and  telegrams 
with  which  the  air  is  filled. 

In  1876  a  barometric  fancy  shows  us  the  Colonel  of  cuiras- 
siers alternating  with  the  good  rustic  in  Calabrian  hat,  ac- 
cording as  the  weather  is  dry  or  wet.  Then  by  little  and  lit- 


The  Real  Bismarck. 


197 


tie  the  pipe  and  the  bock  appear  and  finally  is  risked  a  cari- 
cature of  the  Bismarck  of  the  Parliamentary  receptions  or 
as  the  forester  of  Friedrichsruh. 

A  new  vignette  by  Daelen  represents  the  postman  enter- 
ing the  chateau  of  Varzin.    The  wagon  is  overflowing  with 


Bismarck  is  Proud  to  Discover  upon  the  Head  of  his  Eldest  Son  the 
First  of  the  Three  Hereditary  Hairs. 

its  burden  of  bales,  cases,  packages,  casks  of  beer,  sent  to 
Bismarck  from  all  corners  of  the  German  Empire. 

In  1884  the  Kladderadatsch  produced  an  engraving 
treated  with  immense  seriousness  in  which  for  the  first  time 
Bismarck  appeared  as  the  father  of  a  family.  He  is  seeking 
in  the  head  of  his  son  Herbert  the  first  of  the  three  patrimo- 
nial hairs. 

He  has,  it  is  said,  especial  theories  concerning  hair-cut- 
ting; theories  based  upon  the  influence  of  the  moon  at  cer- 


198  The  Real  Bismarck. 

tain  seasons,  which  the  diplomatist  has  simply  borrowed 
from  the  forester  which  sleeps  in  him. 

Once  when  one  of  his  councillors,  Herr  Abeken,  had  his 
hair  cut,  Bismarck  felicitated  him  upon  the  improvement  in 
his  appearance,  saying  he  had  chosen  a  good  time  for  the 
operation,  that  is,  at  the  change  of  the  moon. 

"  For  you  see,"  he  said,  "  some  hair  is  like  trees.  When 
the  roots  should  survive  the  tree  is  felled  in  the  first  quarter; 
when  they  should  decay  it  is  cut  down  in  the  last.  Some  peo- 
ple, particularly  savans,  do  not  believe  this,  but  the  Depart- 
ment of  Forestry  observes  the  practice  while  it  does  not 
admit  the  principle." 

Whether  from  deference,  from  habit,  or  from  tradition 
(and  caricature  is  necessarily  observant  of  physiognomy,  be- 
ing forced  to  stereotype  certain  gestures,  attitudes,  salient 
features  which  afterward  figure  among  the  comic  attributes 
of  the  personage)  the  artists  continue  to  plant  the  three  pro- 
phetic hairs  upon  Bismarck's  cranium,  where,  in  reality, 
they  are  no  longer  to  be  found.  Here  is  even  a  design  from 
the  Lustige  Blatter  which  represents  them  as  piercing  the 
rock  where  the  new  Barbarossa  is  hidden.  The  following 
lines  explain  the  particular  symbolical  significance  of  the 
composition : 

Le  nouveau  Barberousse 

Qui  s'est  retire,  grondant, 

En  son  chateau  de  Friedrichsruh 

Se  tient  cache  maintenant. 

II  a  renonce  a  troner  en  maitre 
Au  sommet  de  la  chancellerie; 
II  y  retournera  peut-etre, 
Mais  a  sa  fantaisie. 

En  une  chaise  d'ivoire 
Lourdement  assis, 

Le  prince  appuie  son  front  de  gloire 
Sur  une  table  d'onyx. 


The  Real  Bismarck. 

Du  fond  de  sa  pipe  austere 
II  the  de  vrais  nuages. 
Et  les  trois  cheveux  du  sage 
Ont  perce  la  voute  de  pierre. 


199 


The  New  Barbarossa. 


II  dit  au  docteur:   "  Mets-toi 
A  cette  lucarne  pour  inspecter  le  monde 
Et  dis-moi  ce  que  ta  vue  profonde 
Retient  ou  apergoit. 


200  The  Real  Bismarck. 

"  Et  si  le  peuple  des  corbeaux,  helas! 
Plane  encore  audessus  de  mes  precipices, 
Eh  bien,  j'attendrai,  de  guerre  las, 
Des  temps  plus  propices." 

The  crows,  Caprivi  and  Botticher,  are  sufficiently  recog- 
nizable; but  the  head  of  Dr.  Schwenninger  which  appears  at 
the  small  opening  in  the  rock  is  the  best  of  all. 


A  Paternal  Lesson  in  Diplomacy. 

But  the  date  of  his  retirement  is  not  yet  reached;  a  date 
naturally  signalized  by  a  recrudescence  of  purely  political 
caricature;  free  from  malice,  as  it  should  be  when  applied  to 
an  old  man  supposedly  upon  the  eve  of  complete  disgrace. 

The  Kladderadatsch  represents  him  for  the  last  time  in 
uniform,  giving  his  son  Herbert  a  lesson  in  diplomacy;  and 


The  Real  Bismarck.  201 

the  scene,  I  do  not  know  why,  appears  to  be  laid  in  a  cave 
among  a  confusion  of  voluminous  folios. 

On  the  next  page  of  the  "  Bismarck  Album  "  are  seen 
Richter  and  another  leader  of  the  Opposition  beginning  to 
take  oft"  his  boots. 

Other  precursors  of  the  approaching  fall  are  revealed  to  us 
by  the  pencils  of  the  Kladderadatsch  artists.  Here  is  a 
partial  eclipse  of  a  lunar  Bismarck,  announced  by  the  tele- 
scopes of  the  principal  German  journals.  The  shaded  face 
which  overlaps  a  good  third  of  the  well-known  round  one, 
crowned  with  its  three  heraldic  hairs,  is  that  of  Count  von 
Waldersee,  the  Chancellor's  great  rival. 

Another  fancy  of  the  same  period,  which  was  a  remark- 
ably perfect  achievement  quite  above  the  plane  of  caricature, 
is  Bismarck  in  rustic  attire  (the  Bismarck  of  Lenbach's  very 
life-like  portrait)  standing  in  the  middle  of  a  field  filled  with 
superb  cabbage-heads.  The  scene  is  laid  at  Varzin,  to  which 
the  Chancellor  made  a  short  excursion,  and  where,  said  the 
legend,  he  should  be  happy  to  be  able  once  more  to  contem- 
plate heads  which  were  not  those  of  opponents  or  dissenters 
of  any  kind. 

Finally  the  hour  of  retreat  sounded  and  the  caricatures  be- 
came philosophical.  Germany,  which  criticised  him  harshly 
enough  some  years  later,  described  his  abdication  in  the 
most  bourgeois  manner  imaginable,  with  a  humorous  emo- 
tion quite  ludicrous.  The  little  dwarf  of  the  Kladderadatsch 
/ipes  his  eyes  with  one  hand  and  holds  out  the  other  to 
Bismarck  (in  civilian's  dress,  valise  in  hand)  who  lays  in  it 
hree  hairs,  for  he  has  just  relinquished  all  the  insignia  of 
his  rank  and  desires  to  owe  no  man  anything. 

The  French  allegories  which  greeted  his  departure  are 
more  gloomy.  A  design  by  Willette  shows  the  Chancellor 
in  full  uniform  under  a  coat  of  mail,  holding  a  halberd.  The 
dog  is  seated  behind  him.  Both  are  guarding  a  fantastic 


202  The  Real  Bismarck. 

park  full  of  cannon  and  shells  and  Bismarck  launches  these 
proud  words  at  Death,  who  is  passing:  "  In  spite  of  the  cold 
I  am  always  the  guardian  of  this  flock.  Death!  go  thy 
ways ! " 

A  trifle  less  somber  yet  quite  as  bitter,  is  "  The  Four  Sea- 
sons of  a  Statesman,"  by  J.  Blass.  Republican  France  (for 
the  female  figure  which  symbolizes  it  wears  the  Phrygian 
cap)  is  playing  with  a  jumping-jack  with  the  features  of  Bis- 
marck and  his  three  hairs ;  she  holds  him  by  these  hairs  with 


The  Farewell  of  the  Kladderadatsch  (1890). 

one  hand  and  with  the  other  pulls  the  cord  which  makes  him 
dance.  At  the  end  of  the  first  season  the  legs  fall ;  then  the 
arms  and  finally,  by  winter-time,  nothing  is  left  but  the  head ; 
the  jumping-jack  is  demolished.  The  allusion,  to  my  mind, 
is  not  so  clearly  indicated. 


The  Real  Bismarck. 


203 


The  Italian  journal,  77  Pasquino,  simply  shows  us  the 
Chancellor  preparing  his  troupe  of  marionettes  for  removal. 

"  Punch,"  in  which  the  humour  is  always  of  a  serious  char- 
acter, almost  tragic  when  it  refers  to  politics,  published, 


The  Dismissed  Pilot. 

March  19,  1890,  a  very  beautiful  caricature  of  "  The  Pilot 
Dismissed,"  standing  upon  the  ladder  at  the  ship's  side, 
while  over  the  railing  above  the  Emperor  William  leans  and 


204  The  Real  Bismarck. 

looks  after  him  sadly.  The  "  Judge  "  represents  the  Chan- 
cellor closing  his  shop,  uneasily  regarded  by  Gladstone; 
while  "  Moonshine  "  shows  the  same  persons  "  turned  out " 
in  a  pelting  rain  which  they  stoically  face.  Naturally  Bis- 
marck is  a  molossus  and  Gladstone  a  griffin;  the  anthro- 
pomorphous heads  of  two  dogs  have  a  gloomy  expression  of 
melancholy  resignation  and,  one  of  them,  of  ferocity. 

In  the  Swiss  caricatures  humour  is  the  chief  note.  The 
Helvetian  Bismarck  appears  generally  on  top  of  a  moun- 
tain, occupied  in  contemplating  the  various  countries,  the 
sight  of  which  starts  afresh  the  wounds  of  the  thwarted  poli- 
tician. (The  Nebelspalter,  of  June  15,  1889.)  At  the  last 
turn,  he  is  carrying  his  favorite  son  Herbert  and  leading 
the  other  by  the  hand;  but  his  strength  forsakes  him  and 
the  giant  falls;  he  is  finally  borne  to  the  grave  upon  four 
needle-guns.  (The  Carillon  of  Geneva.) 

The  other  foreign  caricatures  are  gay  and  amusing,  and 
neutral  as  to  politics. 

Years  have  passed  and  the  German  caricaturists  are  be- 
coming hardened  against  their  great  man.  The  Lustige 
Blatter  in  particular  is  aggressive  in  tone.  In  1893  ap- 
peared a  page  containing  eight  coloured  designs,  comparing 
the  Bismarck  of  an  earlier  day  with  the  Bismarck  of  this  later 
time.  The  words  of  the  latter  (for  he  is  now  satisfied  only  to 
talk)  are  the  exact  contradiction  of  his  former  acts;  the  whole 
constitutes  a  most  successful  satire  upon  the  chameleon-like 
Bismarck  with  whom  our  readers  are  acquainted. 

First  comes  the  Cuirassier-Diplomatist  of  1866,  dropping 
into  the  great  bag  of  Prussia  all  the  little  States  ripe  for  an- 
nexation: Schleswig,  Hanover,  Frankfort,  etc.  Beside  this 
is  the  hermit  of  Friedrichsruh,  in  dressing-gown  and  slip- 
pers, drinking  with  the  delegates  from  Lippe  to  the  longTife — . 
of.  his  grandchildren.  Below  is  Bismarck  as  Jove  the 
Thunderer,  striking  down  all  who  resist  him  (particularly 


Formerly. 


Evolution. 


To-day. 


The  Real  Bismarck. 


207 


Count  von  Arnim) ;  beside  it  is  the  same  man,  disguised  as 
an  old  grandmother  and  relating  to  her  guests  this  senti- 
mental legend :  "  There  was  once  a  good  old  time  which  was 
called  antiquity:  in  that  day  there  was  no  danger  in  leading 
the  Opposition."  The  third  design  presents  Bismarck  as 
the  officious  father  of  the  press,  turning  the  handle  of  the 


*&*-« 

•'fff 


The  Prodigal  Son. 


automaton  Pindter  that  he  may  eject  one  more  "  leader  "  ; 
next  it,  is  the  old  man  in  a  dressing-gown,  showing  his  son 
Herbert  the  portrait  of  Caprivi  and  saying:  "  Look  here,  my 
little  Herbert,  if  ever  you  become  Chancellor,  do  not  imitate 
this  man,  who  retains  his  power  only  by  suspicious  practices, 


203 


The  Real  Bismarck. 


and  principally  by  influencing  the  press."  Finally  comes 
Bismarck  the  conqueror,  filling  with  gold-pieces  the  boa- 
constrictor  bureaucracy,  while  beside  it,  as  a  huntsman,  he 


Memories  of  Youth. 


The  Real  Bismarck. 


209 


Debut  upon  the  Political  Stage  of  Frankfort  in  1851,  in  the  Character 
of  Mephistopheles. 

pierces  this  same  reptile  hoping  to  strike  in  a  mortal  spot 
the  frightful  glutton. 
The  project  for  a  commemorative  monument  to  Bismarck, 


210  The  Real  Bismarck. 

presented  by  this  journal  in  1893,  did  not  exhibit  more 
respect  for  the  idol  of  Germany.  "  Since  he  may  not  have  an 
equestrian  statue,"  says  the  article,  "  that  style  of  monument 
being  reserved  exclusively  for  the  members  of  the  reigning 
family,  and  as  a  representation  of  the  great  man  on  foot 
would  not  be  sufficiently  imposing,  we  take  the  liberty  of 
submitting  to  the  benevolent  attention  of  our  contemporaries 
the  accompanying  designs." 

First  appears  a  coupe  without  a  horse  attached,  in  which 
Bismarck  is  seated  facing  his  dog;  the  carriage  has  as  a 
pedestal  an  enormous  triumphal  arch.  Next  is  Bismarck 
upon  a  colossal  bicycle:  then  Bismarck  astride  his  dog 
Tyras;  again  he  is  mounted  upon  a  headless  wooden  horse 
(like  the  gymnasium  dummies);  and  at  last  the  horse  is  in- 
serted in  spite  of  the  restriction,  only  Bismarck  remains 
standing  beside  the  beast. 

The  satirical  socialistic  sheet,  Le  Vrai  Jacob,  is  really 
less  hard  upon  the  great  man;  as  the  "  Prodigal  Son  "  it 
shows  us  a  rustic  Bismarck  guarding  a  drove  of  pigs,  each 
one  of  which  bears  the  name  of  a  journal  still  faithful  to  his 
cause. 

In  1894  the  tone  of  the  Lustige  Blatter  softened.  In  a 
large  coloured  engraving  we  are  presented  to  the  ex-Chan- 
cellor draped  in  the  burnous  of  Moses.  The  angel  of  the 
German  nation  is  standing  beside  him,  pointing  out  to  him 
the  new  palace  of  the  Reichstag  and  saying:  "  There  is  the 
Promised  Land  to  which  thou  hast  led  thy  people,  but  thou 
shalt  not  enter  it." 

The  great  reconciliation  was  about  to  take  place,  however, 
and  the  Lustige  Blatter  effectually  altered  its  tone. 

The  grand  event  was  epically  treated,  the  two  champions 
appearing  in  the  costumes  of  Achilles  and  Agamemnon. 
Achilles  speaks  to  Agamemnon  in  the  language  of  Homer, 
assuring  the  latter  that  his  wrath  is  appeased  because  an  ir- 


The  Real  Bismarck. 


211 


A  modern  Gessler  Desires  to 
Bismarck  has  his  Boots  blacked      have  his  Helmet  Saluted  by  All, 
by  all  Classes  of  Society.  but  the  New  Tell,  the  Reichstag, 

Refuses. 


reconcilable  attitude  is  not  appropriate  to  noble  minds.  He 
ends  by  grasping  his  antagonist's  hand,  amid  the  acclama- 
tions of  the  Roman  people. 


212  The  Real  Bismarck. 

Other  sketches,  equally  benevolent,  illustrate  the  events 
of  that  memorable  week  ("  Bismarck's  Woche  ").  The  cari- 
caturist of  the  Lustige  Blatter  invented  apocryphal  extracts 
from  illustrated  journals.  From  L'Ottomane  he  cut  an  illus- 
tration of  Bismarck  as  a  charlatan,  accompanied  by  this 
idolatrous  inscription:  "  The  Prince  appeared,  in  this  time 
of  sickness,  like  the  physician  of  the  miracle;  the  entire 
world  received  him  with  acclamation,  sure  that  he  was  the 
bearer  of  the  panacea  capable  of  curing  all  the  ills  of  the 
universe." 

From  the  hypothetical  Mecontent,  a  socialistic  sheet,  is  Bis- 
marck the  Imperial  architect,  out  of  a  job;  he  is  ringing 
at  Caprivi's  door  to  ask  if  the  Premier  is  likely  soon  to  have 
vacant  such  a  trifle  as  a  chancellor's  post.  Another  clipping, 
supposedly  from  the  journal  Le  Vaisseau  de  I'Etat,  shows 
Bismarck  and  Caprivi  together  turning  the  wheel  which 
guides  the  rudder,  and  it  is  predicted  that  a  fusion  of  the  old 
and  the  new  era  is  about  to  be  accomplished. 

The  caricaturist  of  the  Lustige  Blatter  copied  once  more, 
purporting  to  be  taken  from  "  The  Vine,"  which  represents 
Caprivi  weeping  into  a  bottle  of  "  Steinberger,  Kabinet " 
which  the  Emperor  is  about  to  send  Bismarck,  the  inscrip- 
tion explaining  that  the  famous  bottle  thus  contained  La- 
cryma-Caprivi  of  1894. 

From  that  moment  the  acerbity  of  the  German  caricatures 
was  converted  into  dithyrambics,  and  the  allegories  inspired 
by  the  great  fete  of  1895  (the  eightieth  anniversary  of  Bis- 
marck's birth)  were  exclusively  laudatory  and  hyperbolical. 

The  Lustige  Blatter,  once  so  cutting,  presents  the  Im- 
perial Chancellor  in  three  successive  guises:  Bismarck,  a 
giant  among  dwarfs ;  Caprivi,  to  whose  height  the  dwarfs  of 
yesterday  have  attained;  and  the  Prince  von  Hohenlohe,  a 
dwarf  among  giants,  who  are  no  other  than  the  dwarfs  of 
yesterday. 


The  Real  Bismarck 


213 


This  idea,  in  another  form,  appeared  in  the  same  sheet  in 
1897.  It  represents  Bismarck  the  giant  that  he  was  as,  at 
the  same  time,  Prime  Minister  and  President  of  the  Council. 
"  To-day,"  reads  the  legend,  "  every  effort  is  being  made 
to  fill  this  colossal  mould,  but  without  success." 


Great  Success  in  1870-71,  in  the  Role  of  Siegfried. 

The  design  shows  Chancellor  Caprivi  and  the  President  of 
the  Council,  Bismarck's  two  successors,  vainly  attempting 
to  stretch  themselves  to  the  height  and  breadth  of  their  pred- 
ecessor. 

Upon  the  occasion  of  the  anniversary  fete  of  1895,  the  en- 
thusiasm of  the  German  caricaturists  attained  its  height. 


214 


The  Real  Bismarck. 


The  satirical  socialistic  sheets  alone  held  out,  yet  even  Le 
Vrai  Jacob  contented  itself  with  picturing  the  idol  of  Ger- 
many receiving  the  homage  of  all  the  monopolists. 

The  Lustige  Blatter  led  with  a  special  number,  contain- 
ing a  large  engraving  covering  two  pages  and  representing 


Bismarck,  Tailor  and  Bootmaker. 

Bismarck's  apotheosis.  The  Iron  Chancellor  is  on  horse- 
back, preceded  by  two  heralds-at-arms,  one  bearing  an  es- 
cutcheon with  the  device:  "  In  trinitate  robur"  and  the 
other  a  shield  upon  which  is  inscribed  the  famous  apothegm : 
"  We  Germans  fear  God,"  etc. 

The  first  page  of  the  same  number  is  consecrated  to  a  cor- 
rect and  extraordinarily  insipid  sketch  which  proves  at  least 
that  German  caricaturists  gain  nothing  by  departing  from 


The  Real  Bismarck.  215 

their  methods.  Bismarck  holds  Germania  in  his  arms,  who, 
kneeling  upon  one  knee,  is  offering  him  a  sumptuous  crown 
of  flowering  laurel;  conspicuous  in  the  foreground  is  the 
Chancellor's  gigantic  pipe,  the  only  humorous  detail  of  the 
composition. 

Here,  then,  is  the  situation  between  Germany  and  Bis- 
marck clearly  defined — from  the  caricaturist's  view-point. 

The  Fliegende  Blatter  followed  in  the  footsteps  of  its  con- 
frere with  another  and  less  -clear  attempt  at  a  Bismarck 
apotheosized. 

Le  Rire  of  the  same  date  gave  a  masterly  page  vibrat- 
ing with  patriotism,  by  Jeanniot;  and  in  the  following  num- 
ber reproductions  from  the  Kladdcradatsch  and  other  journals 
displaying  Austro-Hungarian  pictures.  The  latter,  as  may 
be  supposed,  were  less  tender  of  Bismarck.  The  inscriptions 
accompanying  the  designs  which  we  have  copied  render  a 
further  analysis  of  them  unnecessary. 


XVI. 
BISMARCK    BEFORE    POSTERITY. 

The  melancholy  avowal  which,  in  1877,  escaped  from  Bis- 
marck's lips,  should  not  surprise  the  reader  now  familiar 
with  the  various  states  of  conscience  of  the  man  whose  more 
intimate  life  has  just  been  sketched  in  bold  outline.  Under 
the  inscription  by  von  Moltke  in  an  album: 
"Le  mensonge  passe;  la  verite  demeure  "  [Lies  die;  truth  lives] 
—Prince  Bismarck  traced  this  ironical  reflection: 

"  I  know  well  that  truth  will  be  victorious  in  the  other 
world,  but  in  the  meantime  a  field-marshal  himself  would 
be  powerless  against  the  lies  in  this  world." 

It  would  be  impossible  to  more  wittily  praise  the  arms  in 
use,  although  Bismarck  has  often  declared  that  he  gloried 
in  the  ability  to  say  that  he  had  never  lied.  As  a  matter  of 
fact  the  words  "  truth  "  and  "  lie  "  are  equivalents  in  poli- 
tics, and  signify  one  thing  or  quite  another  according  to  the 
country.  For  this  reason  we  may  doubt  the  sincerity  of  Bis- 
marck's pessimism  and  his  remorse,  may  have  the  right  to 
recall  that  the  man  who  of  late  years  regrets  the  health  and 
strength  spent  in  the  Imperial  harness,  also  uttered  this 
proud  and  selfish  maxim : 

"  Fools  pretend  that  they  learn  only  by  their  own  ex- 
perience. I  have  learned  by  the  experience  of  others." 

We,  alas!  have  been  among  those  to  suffer  that  he  might 
gain  experience  in  this  vicarious  manner.  Yet  we  would 

216 


The  Real  Bismarck.  217 

not  be  unjust;  we  willingly  admit  that  as,  in  annexing 
Alsace-Lorraine  it  was  not  precisely  with  a  view  to  the  hap- 
piness of  that  province,  as  he  facetiously  declared  in  the 
Reichstag,  so  was  it  not  for  his  personal  happiness  that  he 
undertook  the  unification  of  Germany. 

The  accomplishment  of  this  task,  which  constitutes  his 
sole  claim  upon  posterity,  was  his  personal  achievement,  but 
the  idea  of  it,  it  is  said,  did  not  originate  with  him.  He  bor- 
rowed it  from  the  Liberal  party,  adapting  to  it  his  individual 
policy  of  repression  and  absolutism.  "  The  Germans,"  he 
said,  "  are  worth  nothing  except  when  united  by  strength  or 
by  love  "  ;  and  he  promptly  fanned  into  a  flame  racial  an- 
tagonisms— for  the  ultimate  good  of  the  Prussian  monarchy; 
which,  for  this  reason,  will  crumble  away  when  the  Germans, 
having  recovered  their  senses,  shall  cease  to  hate  their  neigh- 
bours. 

The  unity  of  the  German  nation  will  continue  because  it  is 
adequate  to  the  laws  of  human  evolution,  which  is  more  and 
more  tending  to  the  establishment  of  the  ethnical  unification 
of  peoples  and  nations  in  order  that  they  may  be  preserved 
from  the  fancies  of  sovereigns  and  diplomats;  which  is 
tending  to  the  destruction  even  of  international  dissem- 
blances. The  Bismarckian  policy  of  unification  succeeded 
because  its  purpose  conformed  to  the  laws  of  nature  while 
upholding  obsolete  principles  of  authority  which  the  next 
social  revolution  in  Germany  will  destroy.  William  II.  has 
done  right,  then,  to  follow  in  the  powerful  wake  of  the  "  dis- 
missed pilot  "  ;  yet  this  tardy  turn  of  the  helm  will  save 
neither  the  futile  Prussian  hegemony  nor  the  dynasty 
which  it  has  founded,  from  the  shipwreck  which  History 
reserves  for  the  last  representative  of  "  the  divine  right  of 
kings." 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  whether  or  not  the  followers  of  Bis- 
marck will  have  it  so,  the  logical  end  of  the  national  evolu- 


2i8  The  Real  Bismarck. 

tion  of  Germany  is  a  federal  Republic  composed  of  all  the 
countries  speaking  the  German  tongue,  including  Austria 
and  a  part  of  Switzerland.  This  Republic  will  spring  of  it- 
self from  the  fruitful  soil  of  democratic  Germany  when  the 
party  of  Sozial-Democratie  shall  have  overcome  the  supreme 
effort  against  the  universal  affranchisement  of  mankind  by 
the  feudal  party  on  the  one  side  and  the  Roman  Catholic  on 
the  other.  These  things  are  bound  to  be,  whatever  to  the 
contrary  Herr  Otto  Mittelstadt  may  have  said  in  his  recent 
pamphlet  entitled  "  Vor  der  Fluth." 

Later,  much  later,  when  the  superior  principle  of  inter- 
nationalism, repudiating  all  others  except  the  principles  of 
civilization,  shall  have  triumphed  over  the  artificial  prin- 
ciple of  nationalities,  formerly  invoked  for  or  against  peace 
by;  the  oppressors  of  all  parties,  perhaps  there  will  be  but  one 
European  nation  in  which  the  peoples  shall  be  grouped 
hypostatically ;  that  is,  international  parties  will  succeed  to 
the  political  alliances  of  to-day. 

^~     Bismarck  represented  will,  not   soul;    reason,   not  art; 

|     statesmanship,  not  human  impulse.     Physically  as  well  as 

J     morally  his  gigantic  physiognomy  has   developed   at  the 

S     expense  of  others;    even  his  estate  of  Friedrichsruh  and 

^y     his  title  of  Duke  of  Lauenburg  are — borrowed — from  the 

\J3anish. 

/^The  eclecticism  of  means  is  naturally  followed  by  variabil- 

J  ity  of  action,  lack  of  logic,   inconsistency   of  reasoning. 

^     Never  has  he  been  able  to  think  one  day  as  he  thought 

J     the  day  before.    One  of  his  principles  is  that  a  man  who 

V      never  changes  is  ridiculous,  and  he  prides  himself  upon  his 

'   inconsistency  as  others  do  upon  their  constancy.     "  There 

are  many  people,"  he  once  said  in  the  Reichstag,  "  who  all 

their  lives  have  had  but  one  idea,  to  which  they  have  always 

held.    I  am  not  one  of  that  kind;  I  am  learning  every  day. 

It  is  possible  that  in  another  year  or  some  years  hence,  if  I 


Dialogue  of  the  Dead. 


A  kind  of  Tartufe!— 
Bismarck  and  Napoleon. 


The  Real  Bismarck.  221 

be  still  alive,  I  shall  consider  untenable  the  views  which  I 
now  hold  and  defend."  This,  however,  was  but  a  repetition 
of  the  profession  of  faith  which  he  made  before  Jules  Favre 
on  the  evening  of  the  signing  of  the  capitulation  of  Paris. 
"To  be  too  logical  in  politics  is  frequently  a  fault  which 
leads  to  obstinacy.  It  is  necessary  to  veer  with  the  course 
of  events,  with  the  state  of  things,  with  various  possibilities; 
to  regulate  one's  conduct  by  circumstances  and  not  by  a  per- 
sonal opinion  which  is  frequently  a  prejudice." 

This  humorist  might  perhaps  have  interested  future  gen- 
erations, but  he  voluntarily  sacrificed  his  vocation  to  politics, 
his  success  in  which  was  too  rapid  and  brilliant  to  be  trans- 
formed into  lasting  glory.  In  our  day,  in  fact,  brilliant  suc- 
cess dies  with  those  who  have  attained  it,  and  oblivion  the 
earlier  enwraps  those  who  have  abused  their  popularity. 
All  is  ended  with  the  fine  funeral,  pompous  discourses, 
necrological  reports;  then,  the  last  candle  snuffed  out, 
the  last  clod  of  earth  fallen  upon  the  casket,  there  is  a 
flight,  a  dispersion,  a  rush  toward  some  new  idol  of  the 
hour. 

A  German  journal  relates  that  a  year  ago  an  under-ofiicer 
in  Prussia,  charged  with  the  general  instruction  of  the  re- 
cruits, asked  each  conscript  the  same  question :  "  Who  is 
Bismarck?"  Of  twenty-five  men,  six  had  never  heard  of 
him,  or  had  thought  him  dead,  or  supposed  he  was  a  French 
general.  Such  is  fame  in  our  day.  This  fact,  however,  will 
not  prevent  Bismarck's  death  from  being  copiously  noticed 
by  the  French  press.  Yet,  I  repeat,  I  have  no  faith  in  the 
posthumous  glory  of  Bismarck;  he  has  been  too  great  a  man 
for  his  contemporaries.  Too  many  statues  have  been  erected 
in  his  lifetime  for  posterity  to  think  of  consecrating  to  his 
memory  a  more  enduring  monument.  Indeed,  the  hour  is  at 
hand  when  no  more  monuments  will  be  erected;  when  fame 
will  join  other  defunct  superstitions  and  all  the  ancient 


222  The  Real  Bismarck. 

myths  be  abolished  by  the  modern  scientific  movement; 
when,  in  the  short  time  which  Nature  assigns  to  them  on 
earth,  the  living  will  have  the  courage  to  separate  from  the 
dead,  or  there  will  be  neither  posterity  nor  nihility  for  anyone 
in  the  relative  eternity  of  universal  life. 


THE  END. 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED    ; 

LOAN  DEPT. 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 
on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 
Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 

KeA*  U  U,L> 

DEC  10  '65  -IP 

M 

MAP  -1  O    <np?        n 

IHHK  i  o  jyb/     J 

• 

._     .   .  .               -     -    1 

MM27-R7 

rf\i  \l   LJL~.jp1  |TW 

^tfl-fto 

1 

(  W  rasp 

-| 

APR  lb'67        ROD 

- 

- 

- 

-i 

LD  21A-60m-10,'65 
(F7763slO)476B 


General  Library 

University  of  California 

Berkeley 


4  1  4 


DP 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


